Scotoecus albofuscus

Field: Agricultural and Biological Sciences (Life Sciences)

3. Light-winged Lesser House Bat Scotoecus albofuscus French: Scotoéque a ailes pales / German: Weif 3flligel-Hausfledermaus / Spanish: Scotoeco de alas palidas Other common names: Thomas’ House Bat, Thomas's Lesser House Bat Taxonomy. Scotophilus albofuscus Thomas, 1890, “Bathurst, River Gambia,” Gambia. Scotoecus was considered a subgenus of Nycticeius by J. R. Ellerman and T. GC. S. Morrison-Scott in 1951 but was subsequently recognized as a distinct genus by D. R. Rosevear in 1965, a treatment followed by J. E. Hill in 1974. Two subspecies have been recognized on the basis of external and skull measurements, but in 2013 M. Happold stated that morphometric differences between the subspecies are slight, although the ranges of the two appear to be well separated by the rainforests of the Congo Basin. Two subspecies tentatively recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. S.a.albofuscusThomas,1890—patchilyfromSenegalandGambiaEtoCameroon. S. a. woodi Thomas, 1917 — patchily from N Uganda and S Kenya S to E South Africa (KwaZulu-Natal). Descriptive notes. Head-body ¢.49-54 mm, tail 27-41 mm, ear 9-15 mm, hindfoot 8-9 mm, forearm 29-34 mm; weight 5-9-5 g. External secondary sexual dimorphism is apparently absent. Penis is very long (c. 9 mm). Pelage of the Light-winged Lesser House Batis soft and dense, with mid-dorsal hairs 4-6 mm in length. Dorsal pelage is unicolored, dark brown, golden brown or fawn. Ventral pelage is slightly paler than dorsal pelage. Wings are white and semi-translucent, becoming brownish closer to body. Interfemoral membrane is blackish brown. Forearms and first to third fingers are brown; fourth and fifth fingers are white. Head isfairly flattened, muzzle is wide, and nostrils open to sides from small transverse pads. Eyes are small. Ears are comparatively short for a vespertilionid, oval, well separated, and with semicircular antitragus on outer margin. Tragus is rounded and short (4, 4-4 mm; two specimens). Skull is somewhat flattened, braincase is broad, rostrum is broad across lacrimals, interorbital region is broad, zygomatic arches are slender and weak, and sagittal and lambdoidal crests are weak. I? is fairly long, unicuspid, and directed inward. Anterior face of C! is anteriorly flattened and conspicuously grooved. P? is vestigial and minute. P* is in contact with C!, and is two-thirdsto three-quarters the height of C'. P, is slightly shorter and stouter than P, which is tall and slender. Habitat. In West Africa, Light-winged Lesser House Bats have been recorded in Sudanian woodland savannas and in mosaics of grassland and thicket in Shai Hills, Ghana. The species also occurs in tropical rainforest in Uganda, East African coastal mosaic in Kenya, riverine forest with Hyphaene palms (Arecaceae) in southern Malawi, montane woodland in Mozambique, and dune forest in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Food and Feeding. Diet consists mainly of Hemiptera, but also includes Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and other insects. Based on wing morphology, the Light-winged Lesser House Bat apparently forages by moderately fast hawking in open spaces, at medium-height above the ground and canopies. Breeding. In southern Malawi, one post-lactating female was recorded in early April. In KwaZulu-Natal, a female recently captured gave birth to twins in late November. Activity patterns. Groups have been observed roosting among the leaves of Hyphaene palms. A Light-winged Lesser House Bat produced LD-FM echolocation calls with an intermediate peak frequency (39-3 kHz), broad bandwidth (24 kHz), and short duration (3-3 milliseconds). In addition to the fundamental harmonic, the second harmonic may be present on the spectrogram. Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information. Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red Lust. Bibliography. Ellerman & Morrison-Scott (1951), Happold, M. (2013bg), Hill (1974a), Hill & Harrison (1987), Rosevear (1965), Schoeman & Jacobs (2008), Whitaker & Mumford (1978).