481.

Long-tailed Myotis

Myotis longicaudatus

French: Murin a longue queue / German: Langschwanz-Mausohr / Spanish: Ratonero de cola larga

Taxonomy. Myotis longicaudatus Ognev, 1927,

Vladivostok, Russia.

Subgenus Myotis; daubentonii species group. See M. daubentonii . Myotis longicaudatus is traditionally considered a subspecies of M. frater, but it was recently elevated to full species status based primarily on genetic data. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

M.l.longicaudatusOgnev,1927—RussianFarEast,KoreanPeninsula,andNEChina(Heilongjiang).

M.l.eniseensisTsytsulina&Strelkov,2001—SCRussia.

M. l. kaguyae Imaizumi, 1956 — Japan (Hokkaido and Honshu).

Descriptive notes. Head—body 43-5-56- 4 mm, tail 38-47 mm, ear 11- 5-14 mm, hindfoot 8-11- 8 mm, forearm 36-7-40- 6 mm; weight 6-11 g. Fur of the Long-tailed Myotis is soft, woolly, slightly curled, but not glossy. Dorsal pelage is dark brown (hairs with dark grayish brown bases and pale brown tips); venter is paler grayish brown or ivory (hairs with dark grayish brown bases and yellowish brown to pale beige tips). Ears are relatively short, and tragusis just over one-half the ear length, with small posterior basal lobe. Base of uropatagium is sparsely covered with hair dorsally and ventrally. Wings attach to distal part of metatarsus on first toe calcar is long and lacks a postcalcarial lobe. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 40 and FNa = 52 (Japan).

Habitat. Temperate forest habitats at low and high elevations.

Food and Feeding. Long-tailed Myotis have been seen foraging in open areas along streets with 1-2 individuals flying back and forth over a 30-40 m long stretch ofstreet, generally ¢. 1-2 m from the ground.

Breeding. Births of Long-tailed Myotis occur from mid-June to mid-July in Asahikawa, Hokkaido but apparently from mid-July to mid-August elsewhere on Hokkaido. Females have one young per pregnancy. Females become sexually mature at c.15-16 months old. Sex ratio of neonates in Hokkaido was 1:0-83, skewed toward males.

Activity patterns. [Long-tailed Myotis roost in tree hollows, caves, tunnels,slits in bridges, and occasionally houses. They also roost in broken nests of Asian house martins (Delichon dasypus). They leave roosts c.1 hourafter sunset to forage through the night and are more active when temperatures are warmer. Long-tailed Myotis hibernate in winter (November—March).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Long-tailed Myotis typically roost in colonies of 15-25 individuals, and females form maternity colonies when pregnant and nursing that can have well over 100 females and their young. Males and females roost separately throughout the year, except during breeding. They appear to be very loyal to roosts; one male used the same summer tunnel roost conservatively for more than eleven years. They will share hibernacula with other species of Myotis and Rhinolophus.

Status and Conservation. Not assessed on The IUCN Red List. The Long-tailed Myotis was included under the Fraternal Myotis ( M. frater), which was classified as Data Deficient. It is widespread and does not seem to face any major threats.

Bibliography. Ando et al. (1980c), Harada & Yoshida (1978), Ishikawa et al. (1985), Jo Yeong-Seok et al. (2018), Kawai et al. (2003), Ohdachi et al. (2009), Ono & Obara (1994), Ruedi et al. (2015), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Tsytsulina (2008h), Tsytsulina & Strelkov (2001), Yoon Myung-Hee (1990), Yoshiyuki (1989).