Bats, Chiroptera

Pest control through integrated pest management systems stands as a very convenient sustainable hazard-free alternative to pesticides, which are a growing global concern if overused. The ability of the soprano pipistrelle bat (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) to control the rice borer moth (Chilo supressalis), which constitutes a major pest of rice around the world, was studied in the Ebre Delta, Northeastern Iberia. Evidence was found on the ability of this particular bat species to control borer infestations: a) the moth was consumed during at least the last two peaks of the moth activity, when most crop damage is done; b) the activity of bats significantly increased with moth abundance in the rice paddies; c) the pest levels have declined in the study area (Buda Island, Eastern Ebre Delta) after the deployment of bat boxes and their subsequent occupation by soprano pipistrelles. The value of the ecosystem service provided by bats was estimated at a minimum of 21€ per hectare, equivalent to the avoided pesticide expenditure alone. We suggest that this natural service can be enhanced by providing bat populations with artificial roosts in rice paddies were some key ecosystem features are present.

This paper presents and discusses all 84 records of Hypsugo savii collected in Serbia so far, at 22 localities and 55 exact sites. Only 3 of those records have been previously published: the first records from 1981 in two localities in eastern Serbia. Since then new sites have been gradually recorded throughout Serbia, particularly in the last four years. According to distribution of records, there is a noticeable spread of species’ range from mountainous karst areas to valleys and plains, where human settlements have been particularly favoured habitats. After the first appearance in 1994, a constant increase of population is recorded in settlements as well as growing evidence of reproduction. Significant part of summer records is from certain areas of Vojvodina province, i.e. southern part of Pannonian Plain, recorded often above vast arable fields. Increase in range and population numbers was already recorded in neighbouring countries, so the presented situation in Serbia is a contribution to better understanding of present distribution, bionomics and ecology of this species.

Para facilitar esfuerzos de identificación de murciélagos en la región, ponemos a disposición la presente clave de identificación, estructurada a nivel de familias, subfamilias, géneros y especies, incluyendo a todas aquellas citadas hasta ahora para la región neotropical. Se incluyen mapas de la región Neotropical para indicar los países y territorios que la integran, y tablas por regiones y familias en las que se indican los países donde encuentran las especies. El objetivo principal de esta clave es que sea de utilidad para la identificación de especies, no sólo por investigadores en el área específica, sino también por estudiantes, guardaparques y público en general y que, al mismo tiempo, ayude a incentivar estudios sobre este grupo de mamíferos en la región. Los caracteres utilizados en la clave han sido seleccionados para ayudar, principalmente, en la identificación de especies en el campo pero, debido a que para muchas de las especies nuevas nombradas en los últimos tiempos no se ofrecen caracteres muy evidentes de su morfología externa, hemos tenido que agregar caracteres craneales y de la dentición, algunos de los cuales no son fáciles de observar en el campo ni sencillos de interpretar por observadores no especializados en el estudio de los murciélagos. A pesar de esto la clave permitirá, en el campo, una aproximación muy cercana hasta el nivel de especie en casi todos los casos. Al final se agrega una versión de la clave traducida al portugués. En la actualidad reconocemos para el Neotrópico nueve familias, 106 géneros y aproximadamente 450 especies de murciélagos: 22 Emballonuridae, 226 Phyllostomidae, 18 Mormoopidae, 2 Noctilionidae, 2 Furipteridae, 5 Thyropteridae, 11 Natalidae, 56 Molossidae y 108 Vespertilionidae. Respecto las especies por país, aunque existe la misma cautela respecto a diferencias en la taxonomía en uso por cada autor, los datos son los siguientes, indicando los confirmados (y los probables entre paréntesis): SUDAMÉRICA: Argentina 67, Bolivia 146 (1), Brasil 181 (4), Colombia 217 (4), Chile 14, Ecuador 183 (3), Guyana 125 (6), Guayana Francesa 101 (2), Paraguay 57 (2), Perú 188 (2), Surinam 99 (8), Uruguay 22 (3) y Venezuela 172 (2); NORTEAMÉRICA: México 141 (2); CENTROAMÉRICA: Belice 71 (11), Costa Rica 117, El Salvador 68 (3), Guatemala 104, Honduras 113 (2), Nicaragua 111, Panamá 112; CARIBE: Antillas Mayores: Cuba 26, Haití 17, Jamaica 22, Puerto Rico 13, República Dominicana 18; Antillas Menores: Antigua y Barbuda 7 (1), Barbados 10, Dominica 12 (1), Granada 15, San Cristóbal y Nieves 10, San Vicente y Las Granadinas 11, Santa Lucía 9, Trinidad y Tobago 67 (1). Dependencia de Países Bajos: Aruba 7, Bonaire 10, Curazao 6, San Eustaquio 8, Saba 9, San Martin 4. Dependencia de Reino Unido: Anguila 5, Bermuda 3, Islas Vírgenes 4 (1), Isla Caimán 6, Montserrat 11 (1), Turcas y Caicos 2. Dependencia de Francia: Guadalupe 13 (1), Martinica 11, San Martín 4, San Bartolomé 2. Dependencia de Estados Unidos: Islas Vírgenes 4 (1). Lucayas: Las Bahamas 9 (1).

We  report  on  the  results  of  a  bat  inventory  of  the  Dja
biosphere  reserve  in  southern cameroon  rainforest.
In  total,  we  recorded  29  bat  species  belonging  to  16
genus  and  8  families.  Microchiopteran  bats  are  more
diversified (21 species), but less abundant compared to
Megachiropteran bats in this reserve. During this survey,
a  species  is  recorded  for  the  first  time  for cameroon:
Epomops  buettikoferi.

An inventory of bat species in the Mileševka river gorge (southwestern Serbia) was conducted in July 2013. There were six bat species recorded in the cave at the Ćetanica plateau using a mist-netting technique. In this paper we report the first finding of Plecotus macrobullaris in Serbia, contributing to the knowledge of its distribution area. The bat fauna of Serbia now contains 30 species.

PREFACE

This book is designed as a guide aimed at satisfying the needs of those conducting field work on bats in the Amazon. It is largely based on Lim et al. (2001), with modifications derived from both personal observations and three years of field experience in the Brazilian Amazon at the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project (BDFFP), as well as a thorough revision of available bat keys and scientific papers describing new species.

Our aim was to write a straightforward, easy-to-use guide that would be both practical and very visual, and would facilitate bat species identification in the field. We tried to avoid as much as possible confusing features such as fur colour, as well as certain skull and teeth characteristics that cannot be easily measured under field conditions.

We decided to group together many of the cryptic species that are still indistinguishable in the field and that can only reliably be identified using molecular methods such as DNA barcoding. Taxonomic
nomenclature throughout this key follows Nogueira et al. (2014). This is an interactive field-guide that we hope will be continuously improved and updated.

We will be delighted to receive readers’ comments and suggestions!
Please send them to: adria.baucells@gmail.com

Thank you!
The Authors

Bats play crucial roles in ecosystems, are increasingly used as bio-indicators and are an important component of tropical diversity. Ecological studies and conservation-oriented monitoring of bats in the tropics benefit from published libraries of echolocation calls, which are not readily available for many tropical ecosystems. Here, we present the echolocation calls of 15 species from the Valparai plateau in the Anamalai Hills, southern Western Ghats of India: three rhinolophids (Rhinolophus beddomei, R. rouxii (indorouxii), R. lepidus), one hipposiderid (Hipposideros pomona), nine vespertilionids (Barbastella leucomelas darjelingensis, Hesperoptenus tickelli, Miniopterus fuliginosus, M. pusillus, Myotis horsfieldii, M. montivagus, Pipistrellus ceylonicus, Scotophilus heathii, S. kuhlii), one pteropodid (Rousettus leschenaultii) and one megadermatid (Megaderma spasma). Discriminant function analyses using leave-one-out cross validation classified bats producing calls with a strong constant frequency (CF) component with 100% success and bats producing frequency modulated (FM) calls with 90% success. For five species, we report their echolocation calls for the first time, and we present call frequencies for some species that differ from those published from other parts of the species’ ranges. This exemplifies the need for more local call libraries from tropical regions to be collected and published in order to record endemic species and accurately identify species whose calls vary biogeographically.

Impact mitigation practices are currently one of the hottest topics in conservation and regarded as priorities worldwide. Forest bat populations are known to provide important ecosystem services such as pest control and bat boxes have become one of the most popular management options for counteracting the loss of roosts. However, bat boxes tend to be employed in non-native forests near highly humanized areas where human disturbance is higher. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the surrounding landscape composition affects bat box occupancy in urban non-native forests along the Mediterranean corridor in the Northeastern Iberian Peninsula. Two hundred wooden bat boxes were monitored in young non-native forests in the period 2004–2012. The influence of land cover on occupancy rate of bat boxes was analysed at the landscape level in a 5 km buffer around bat-box stations. In total, 1659 inspections were carried out, in which a 15 % occupancy rate was detected. Bat boxes hosted three different species (Pipistrellus pygmaeus, Pipistrellus kuhlii and Nyctalus leisleri). More than 70 % of the occupancy can be explained by habitat and spatial composition. The presence of urban areas around bat boxes tends to have a negative impact on bat occupation rates; by contrast, forest coverage has a positive effect, especially for the tree-dwelling bats. These patterns could be associated with the large number of available roosts in buildings, microhabitat or phylopatry. Thus, to increase success, we suggest that landscape composition should be considered when using bat boxes for conservation.