Miniopterus majori Thomas 1906
Creators: name: Don E. Wilson
name: Russell A. Mittermeier
Publisher: name: Lynx Edicions
Year: 2019
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Mammalia
Chiroptera
Miniopteridae
Miniopterus
Miniopterus majori

description: 32.
Major’s Long-fingered Bat
Miniopterus majori
French: Minioptére de Major / German: MajorLangfllgelfledermaus / Spanish: Minidptero de Major
Other common names: Major's Bent-winged Bat
Taxonomy. Miniopterus majori Thomas, 1906,
“Imasindrary, N.E. Betsileo,” Madagascar.
Miniopterus major: was formerly included in M. schreibersii. Monotypic.
Distribution. Widely but patchily distributed across highlands of E Madagascar, with some records from the W & S. Individuals captured on Grande Comore Island in the late 19" century are considered mislabeled individuals from Madagascar.
Descriptive notes. Head-body ¢.60-61 mm, tail 51-60 mm, ear 11-13 mm, hindfoot 7-9 mm, forearm 43-47 mm; weight 8-4-12-5 g. Major’s Long-fingered Bat and the Sororcula Long-fingered Bat (M. sororculus) have broad overlap in various external morphological characteristics, but Major’s Long-fingered Bat is, on average, larger. In Major’s Long-fingered Bat, dorsum is darker, approaching rich, dark chocolatebrown, and venteris slightly paler rich dark brown; in contrast, dorsum of the Sororcula Long-fingered Bat is generally rich dark brown, and venter is slightly lighter. In Major’s Long-fingered Bat, tragus (7-8 mm) is slightly longer than in the Sororcula Long-fingered Bat and has distinctly broader base, constricts toward midsection, and then formsslightly arching structure to a rounded point.
Habitat. Various vegetation types including humid forests and thorny bush from sea level up to elevations of ¢. 1000 m.
Food and Feeding. Diet mainly includes Lepidoptera and Hemiptera and to a lesser extent Blattodea, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Ephemeroptera, and Trichoptera. Prey includes species considered as pest with obvious economic impacts such as the grass webworm (Herpetogramma licarsisalis), a pest of rice, and Sober tabby (FEriceia inangulata), a pest of fruit and soybeans. Other prey (moths) is considered as potential pests (Palpita sp., Achaea euryplaga, Eublemma vette, Chloroclystis androgyna, Ectropis AH 27Md, Idiodes oberthuri, Scopula AHOIMd, Emmalocera sp., Meyrickiella homosema, Celsumaria elongata, and Pandemis retroflua).
Breeding. No information.
Activity patterns. Major's Long-fingered Bat is nocturnal. Considering its elevational range, similar to that of the Sororcula Long-fingered Bat, it is presumed that at least upland populations have similar adaptations for possible hibernation during austral winter. It uses caves as daytime roosts. Echolocation calls have downward FM signals, with maximum frequencies of 64-102 kHz, minimum frequencies of 43-46 kHz, peak frequencies of 46-1-52 kHz, durations of 2-8-4-5 milliseconds, and intervals of 59-5—134-8 milliseconds.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Major’s Long-fingered Bat could be susceptible to cave disturbances and hunting at some sites.
Bibliography. Goodman & Maminirina (2007), Goodman, Bradman et al. (2008), Goodman, Ryan et al. (2007), Kemp et al. (2019), Monadjem, Rakotoarivelo & Jenkins (2017), Ramasindrazana et al. (2011), Thomas (1906).
description: Published as part of Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier, 2019, Miniopteridae, pp. 674-709 in Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona :Lynx Edicions on page 708, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.5735202