69.

Large Forest Bat

Vespadelus darlingtoni

French: Vespertilion de Darlington / German: GroRe Waldfledermaus / Spanish: Vespadela de Darlington

Other common names: Large Forest Eptesicus, Large Forest Vespadelus

Taxonomy. Eptesicus darlingtoni G. M. Allen, 1933,

13 km NW Braidwood, New South Wales, Australia.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. E & SE Australia, in extreme SE Queensland, E & SE New South Wales, Victoria, and SE South Australia (including, Kangaroo I); also Lord Howe I, Flinders I, and Tasmania.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 38-1-52-3 mm, tail 29-2-38.6 mm, ear 10-1-13-1 mm, forearm 32-3-38-6 mm; weight 4-10 g. Fur is long and shaggy-looking; dorsally dark brown to rusty brown (hairs mildly bicolored, basally dark brown and slightly lighter brown at tip), ventrally very slightly paler. Face, ears, arms, and membranes are dark blackish brown. Ears are small and rounded triangular with smoothly convex anterior edge; tragus is narrow, anteriorly straight or slightly concave, posteriorly convex, and with rounded tip and slight posterobasal lobe. Uropatagium reachesto tip of tail. Penis is small and distinctively angular, with non-swollen glans; urethral opening is in mid-ventral region of glans head and is covered by a triangular patch of skin projecting upward from ventral margin of opening. Baculum is short (mean 1-7 mm), bluntly arrow-shaped in dorsal view with moderately laterally expanded base, and is straight in lateral view except for the base, which is sharply curved ventrally. Skull is long; lambdoidal crest is weakly to moderately developed; anterior narial notch is generally V-shaped or occasionally narrow U-shaped; rostrum is moderately long. I? is bicuspid, I’ is unicuspid; P* is much smaller than C!, and within tooth row; crista linking base of metacone and hypocone on M' is absent or slight, and absent or slight on M*. Karyotype is 2n = 44.

Habitat. This species uses a wide range of habitats, including rainforest, wet and dry sclerophyll forest, blackwood swamps, open forests, subalpine woodland, alpine moors, sclerophyll regrowth, and coastal mallee. Restricted to montane areas above 300 m in northern portions ofits distribution, but extends to lower altitudes toward its southern limits, where it is found from sea level to 1300 m in Victoria.

Food and Feeding. The Large Forest Bat forages in open spaces between trees, and between the canopy and understory. It is much less maneuverable than congeners, although it flies fast, avoiding cluttered regrowth and rainforest while foraging. It flies with rapid wingbeats interrupted by gliding changes in direction to catch prey on the wing. Food is usually consumed while flying. Foraging areas are 10-300 ha or more; bats will forage for distances of up to 6 km in a single night. Diet is very variable, based on prey availability by region and season. In Victoria, the diet included ants,flies, true bugs, and beetles in relatively equal amounts along with occasional moths and spiders. In Tasmania, the species mainly fed on moths but also beetles, flies, true bugs, lacewings, and termites.

Breeding. Mating occurs in March and variably through the winter. Spermatogenesis begins in summer and sperm is stored in the male through winter; sperm is also stored in the female over winter. Males remain reproductively active through winter and will arouse and mate throughout, ensuring that all females are inseminated. A follicle is present during hibernation in both ovaries, but ovulation does not occur until spring. Implantation only occurs in the right uterine horn. A single young is born from November to mid-December, and lactating females are present in December andJanuary. Juveniles are volant by mid-January to early February. Females become sexually mature in their first year, males in their second. Maximum life span recorded is nine years; mean life expectancy is two years.

Activity patterns. Large Forest Bats forage through the night, leaving their roosts at dusk. Roosts are usually in tree hollows, preferably in a large live tree 20-40 m high, with smooth bark. Roost entrance is generally c.15-20 m aboveground, although this is variable. Roosts have also been recorded in buildings. Bats hibernate in a torpid state through the winter but are well adapted to leave this state and forage and mate through the winter. Call shape is a broadly sweeping FM/QCF with a characteristic frequencies of 38-48 kHz, becoming lower from Queensland to southern New South Wales. On Lord Howe Island, the characteristic frequencies were 44-46 kHz.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The Large Forest Bat forms colonies of up to 80 individuals, although it is commonly found in smaller groups of 5-6 females or solitary males. Roosts are sex-segregated, males usually living alone and females in groups, although both sexes will share roosts with other bat species. The species commonly changes roosts, and may switch to a new roost every day. New roosts are usually within 1 km of the old roost.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. There are currently no major threats facing the Large Forest Bat. It was thought to be extinct on Lord Howe Island for many years, but was recently collected there and is considered to be relatively common. The lull in collection data there may be due to a decrease in abundance, but this is debatable.

Bibliography. Churchill (2008), Eldridge et al. (2017), Herr & Klomp (1999), Hoye, Herr & Law (2008), Kitchener et al. (1987), Law & Chidel (2002), Law, Chidel & Law (2018), Law, Reinhold & Pennay (2002), O'Neill & Taylor (1986), Pennay & Lumsden (2008b), Tidemann (1993), Tidemann & Flavel (1987), Volleth & Tidemann (1989).