48.

Forest Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus adamsi

French: Pipistrelle d'Adams / German: Cape-York-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Pipistrela de Adams

Other common names: Adams's Pipistrelle, Cape York Pipistrelle

Taxonomy. Kitchener, Caputi & B. Jones, 1986,

“ 40 km E Archer River Crossing, Cape York, Queensland (13°27’S, 143°18°E),” Australia.

Although similar to one another, P. adams: and P. westralis are considered distinct species based on morphological and genetic data. Monotypic.

Distribution. Restricted to N Australia, including Top End region (including Melville and Bathurst Is) in Northern Territory and Cape York (including Prince ofWales I) in Queensland; there are several isolated records from E Queensland on Atherton Tableland, at Cape Hillsborough, and near Blackwater.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 35-44 mm, tail 26-35 mm, ear 8-5-12 mm, forearm 29-6-32-7 mm; weight 3-6-2 g. Like the Northern Pipistrelle ( P. westralis), the Forest Pipistrelle is very small and one of the smallest bats in Australia. Dorsal pelage varies from dark brown to grayish brown or rusty red; ventral pelage is considerably lighter but generally matches dorsum. Face, ears, forearms, and wings vary between light brown and dark blackish. Ears are broadly rounded at tips and subtriangular in shape; tragus is c.50% the height of ear and has larger basal lobe and more convex posterior edge than the Northern Pipistrelle. Uropatagium stretches nearly to end oftail (only extreme tip is free), and postcalcarial lobe is semicircular. Glans penis has slightly flared head, with small ventral flaps against shaft; there is a relatively long fleshy lobe projecting from ventral tip. Baculum is long (but shorter than in the Northern Pipistrelle), with narrow base, and is curved, with deeply bifurcated tip (for 30% ofits length rather than 10% in the Northern Pipistrelle). Skull is small and gracile but larger in all dimensions than that of the Northern Pipistrelle, although skull is rather similar to that species in most other aspects; posterior palate is narrower; skull is less inflated overall, with less concave interparietal region; C' is significantly larger in size; and lower molars are nyctalodont.

Habitat. Monsoonal forests, Melaleuca (Myrtaceae) forests, rainforests surrounded by eucalypt forest, open woodlands, and near creek and river systems in savanna woodlands.

Food and Feeding. Forest Pipistrelles might forage by fly-catching and probably gleaning off of vegetation based on its dietary components. Diet is composed of insects (e.g. beetles, moths, leathoppers, bugs,flies, flying ants, cockroaches, and mosquitoes) and spiders.

Breeding. Pregnant Forest Pipistrelles have been recorded from early September to late October, indicating births occur in October-November. Lactating and post-lactating females have been captured in early December and late February, with adult-sized volant young. Females give birth to one young and might breed more than once a year.

Activity patterns. The Forest Pipistrelle is nocturnal. Unlike many other vespertilionids,it does not seem to be very active until later in the night. In the Top End region of northern Australia, activity begins around midnight, with peak 7-8 hours after sunset and smaller amounts of activity closer to sunset. On Cape York, it appears to become active around dusk as in other vespertilionids. Forest Pipistrelles presumably roost in hollow trees, but there are reports of them roosting in rock shelters. Search-call shape is FM/QCEF, with characteristic frequency recorded averaging 43-9 kHz (42-5-45-3 kHz) in the Top End region.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. The Forest Pipistrelle has a relatively wide distribution and seems to be relatively common. It faces no major threats, but habitat loss might become a future threat.

Bibliography. Adams et al. (1987), Churchill (2008), Hill & Harrison (1987), Hoye & Milne (2008), Kitchener et al. (1986), Koopman (1984b), Lumsden, Woinarski & Milne (2008), Milne (2002), Milne, Burwell & Pavey (2016), Milne, Fisher et al. (2005).