291.

Cuban Evening Bat

Nycticeius cubanus

French: Nycticée de Cuba / German: Kuba-Neuweltabendsegler / Spanish: Nicticeo de Cuba

Taxonomy. Vesperus cubanus Gundlach in Peters, 1861,

near Cardenas, Matanzas, Cuba .

See N. humeralis . Monotypic.

Distribution. W Cuba.

Descriptive notes. Head—-body ¢. 52 mm, tail 24-36 mm, ear 8-10 mm, forearm 28-6— 32- 4 mm; weight 4-7 g. The Cuban Evening Bat the smallest vespertilionid in Cuba. It resembles the Caribbean Lesser Funnel-eared Bat ( Chilonatalus micropus), the Least Little Mastiff Bat (Mormopterus minutus), and Gervais’s Funnel-eared Bat ( Nyctiellus lepidus) in size; however, those species are morphologically easily distinguished. Dorsal and ventral fur of the Cuban Evening Bat are bicolored, with dark bases and contrasting lighter tips; dorsum is brownish, and venter is olive-brown. Muzzle is short and not broad. Ears are separated and when folded forward reach or surpass anterior region of muzzle; tragus reaches one-half the ear length. Tail extends 1-3 mm beyond uropatagium. Calcar reaches at least one-half the free margin of uropatagium. Membranes are naked. Skull 1s short and broad; braincase is wider than rostrum; rostrum is short and broad; sagittal crest 1s present; and zygomatic arch is weak. Lower teeth are similar to those of Eptesicus; teeth are relatively small; I* is simple, unicuspid, and separated from C' by small gap; lower incisors have similarsize, are in contact, and trilobed; and area of crown of M?® is one-half the crown size of M' and M?, with mesostyle, metacone, and three commissures evident, Dental formulas 1/3. C1/1,P 1/2. M 3/3 (x2) = 30,

Habitat. Known from sea level up to elevations of ¢. 250 m.

Food and Feeding. Cuban Evening Bats capture insects in flight and were observed pursuing isopterans above lampposts. Feces contained parts of insects from Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Blattodea (Blattidae) .

Breeding. A female carrying two embryos was captured in May. Cuban Evening Bats are probably monoestrous.

Activity patterns. Cuban Evening Bats begin to forage at dusk, with individuals captured in mist nets shortly after sunset, but activity extends throughout the night and they can be observed entering and leaving their roosts during most of the night. In some locations, foraging activity starts after dark. Flightis slow, with high maneuverability, and they can fly from uncluttered to high cluttered areas. Roostingsites include fissures and hollows in lampposts and rooftiles. Echolocation calls sweep from higher to lower frequencies, combining steep FM component and final QCF component. During search and approach phases and terminal buzz I, calls sweep from 80 kHz to 40 kHz in 4-12 milliseconds, dropping below 40 kHz only in terminal buzz II.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Colonies of at least 26 Cuban Evening Bats were found roosting in rooftiles. Solitary individuals were also found.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. The Cuban Evening Batis in significant population decline due to habitat loss caused by human expansion. The Cuban Evening Bat is found in protected areas.

Bibliography. Garcia & Mancina (2011), Hall (1981), Mora et al. (2005), Silva-Taboada (1979), Solari (2018i), Varona (1974).