38.

Kelaart’s Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus ceylonicus

French: Pipistrelle de Kelaart / German: Sri-Lanka-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Pipistrela de Kelaart

Other common names: Black Gilded Pipistrelle

Taxonomy. Scotophilus ceylonicus Kelaart, 1852,

Trincomalee, Sri Lanka .

All populations of P. ceylonicus on the mainland Indian subcontinent are considered to represent a single subspecies, and the name subcanusis synonymized under indicus based on a lack of morphological differentiation. Six subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

P.c.ceylonicusKelaart,1852—SriLanka.

P.c.borneanusHill,1963—knownonlyfrom MtTrusMadi,NBorneo(onespecimen).

P.c.indicusDobson,1878—E&SEPakistan(PunjabandSind),India,andBangladesh.

P.c.raptorThomas,1904—SChina(SGuangxiandWeizhouI)andNVietnam.

P.c.shanorumThomas,1915=ECMyanmar.

P. c. tongfangensis Wang Sung, 1966 — Hainan I.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 45-64 mm, tail 30-45 mm, ear 9-14 mm, hindfoot 6-11 mm, forearm 33-42 mm; weight 7-10 g. Pelage of Kelaart’s Pipistrelle is silky. Dorsum varies from gray-brown to golden brown or chestnut to blackish brown, with orangish sheen; venter is paler medium brown and only slightly paler than dorsum. Ears, face, and membranes are uniformly dark brown. Ears are large and bluntly pointed; tragus is broadly rounded and relatively straight. Baculum (3-:8-4-1 mm long) has bilobated base, thin shaft, and bifurcated tip and is nearly straight but a little sinuous. Skull is large and robust, with robust rostrum; zygomatic arches are thin and lack processes; forehead region is sloped or slightly domed; C' usually has distinct secondary cusp (not present in holotype for shanorum); P* is subequal in area to I? and is displaced inward from tooth row; C' and P* do not touch; and lower molars are nyctalodont. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 36 and FN = 48 (India).

Habitat. Various habitats including arid regions and humid mountainous forests from sea level up to elevations of ¢. 2150 m.

Food and Feeding. Kelaart’s Pipistrelle is insectivorous and a fast and erratic flier, flying higher and straighter as night progresses. It forages mainly on beetles, moths,flies ( Diptera), and other insects.

Breeding. Breeding ecology of Kelaart’s Pipistrelle has been studied in Maharashtra, central India. Kelaart’s Pipistrelle seems to be seasonally monoestrous. Copulation occurs in the first two weeks of June, and ovulation and fertilization takes place in the second week ofJuly. Delayed fertilization lasted c.2-5 weeks in captive studies and seems to last c.1 month in wild individuals. Sperm is stored in female reproductive tract until fertilization occurs. Gestation lasts 50-55 days, and litter size is 1-3 young (almost always two). Young weigh c.1-3 g at birth and open their eyes after c.72 hours. They become hairy at c.6-8 days old. Young nurse for 25-30 days before being weaned, and lactating females are not seen by the third week of October. There does not seem to be any reproductive activity in October—May. Sexual maturity is attained before one year of age, and breeding starts during the following summer. In Sri Lanka, females in advanced pregnancy were collected in the first week of September, suggesting a different reproductive pattern.

Activity patterns. Kelaart’s Pipistrelle is nocturnal, leaving roosts early in the evening to forage (almost as soon as the sun sets). It roosts in rural and urban human houses, old dilapidated buildings, crevices, cracks in walls, tree hollows, holes in trees, caves, wells, and old temples and under overhanging ledges. Flights include numerous twists and turns but are also straight. Search-call shape is FM, and calls recorded in southern India had maximum frequencies of98-7-103-8 kHz (average 101-7 kHz), minimum frequencies of 32-4-33-3 kHz (32-8 kHz), frequencies of maximum energy of 41-3-49-9 kHz (44 kHz), and durations of 1-1-1-9 milliseconds (1-4 milliseconds). In southern India, the reddish parachute spider (Poecilotheria rufilata) reportedly preys on Kelaart’s Pipistrelles.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Kelaart’s Pipistrelle roosts alone or in colonies of up to 200 individuals. Females far outnumber males throughout the year, but birth ratio is 1:1, suggesting that mortality of males is much higher than that of females.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. Kelaart’s Pipistrelle is widespread and relatively common throughoutits distribution.

Bibliography. Bates & Harrison (1997), Bates, Hutson, Schlitter et al. (2008), Bates, Nwe Tin et al. (2005), Corbet & Hill (1992), Das etal. (2012), Francis (2008a), Gopalakrishna & Madhavan (1971, 1972), Gopalakrishna et al. (1988), Hill (1963b), Hill & Harrison (1987), Khan (2001), Kruskop (2013a), Lal (1984), Madhavan (1971), Perveen & Rahman (2015), Raghuram et al. (2014), Sinha (1986), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Sreepada et al. (1996).