This is apparently the 'first known case of a mammal copying an insect to deter hostile species" (there are plenty of other kinds of imitiations, of course). Although I read elsewhere that more research is required to really understand what's happening here, because the relevant owls (who fly by night) would never meet those hornets (who fly by day); so why would they care so much?
Scientific article from Current Biology: Bats mimic hymenopteran insect sounds to deter predators - ScienceDirect
Nature news article: Bats buzz like hornets to scare off owl predators (nature.com)Nature Briefing said:Bats buzz like hornets to scare off owls
Some bats can imitate the sound of buzzing hornets to scare off owls — the first documented case of a mammal mimicking an insect to deter predators. Researchers compared the sound structure of buzzing by the European hornet (Vespa crabro) to that of the distress call of greater mouse-eared bats (Myotis myotis). At most frequencies, the two sounds were not dramatically similar, but they were when the bat’s call was stripped down to include only frequencies that owls can hear. “It makes total sense to me that bats, with their remarkable vocal abilities, would resort to acoustic means to fool predators,” says animal-behaviour ecologist Mirjam Knörnschild.
Scientific article from Current Biology: Bats mimic hymenopteran insect sounds to deter predators - ScienceDirect
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