31.

Racey’s Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus raceyi

French: Pipistrelle de Racey / German: Racey-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Pipistrela de Racey

Other common names: Racey's Pipistrelle Bat

Taxonomy. Pipistrellus raceyi Bates et al., 2006, “Kianjavato, Province de Fianarantsoa, Madagascar, 21°22.84°S, 47°51.96’E, 75 m asl.” Relationship of P. raceyi to other species of Pipisitrellus is uncertain because it seems to be highly divergent from other species. As currently defined, western and eastern populations of P. racey: might represent completely distinct species or subspecies based on limited genetic and morphological data. Monotypic.

Distribution. Lowlands of W & E coasts of Madagascar.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 46-52 mm,tail 229-34 mm, ear 7-5-11 mm, hindfoot 5-3-7-5 mm, forearm 27-33 mm; weight 3-8-5-8 g. Eastern population has generally larger individuals than western population. Pelage is relatively long. Dorsum of Racey’s Pipistrelle is light rufous, with distinctly darker head; venter is buffy brown. Wing membranes are dark brownish black, and uropatagium is a similar color and stretches to about end oftail. Muzzle is relatively short and inflated, with large glandular swellings that are essentially naked; face is pinkish and darker blackish brown closer to front of muzzle. Ears are uniformly dark brownish black and short, with rounded tips and 3-5 well-developed ridges; tragus is ¢.50% the height of ear, crescent-shaped, and has small notch near base of posterior border and rounded tip. Penis is very long (9-6-11-8 mm; much longer than the Dusky Pipistrelle, P. hesperidus, in Madagascar). Baculum is long and thin, curving upward near base and downward near tip; tip is always bifurcated, and base is bifurcated in western population and not in eastern population (only with very slight medial notch); base is either relatively skinny in western population but inflated dorsally in eastern population. Rostrum is rounded and flattened, with slightly upturned tip; supraorbital ridges are inflated and angular, forming an oblique welldefined hollow in front of each ridge; I® is about the height of second cusp of I*; I? is bicuspid; I” is unicuspid; P* is comparatively well developed and slightly displaced from tooth row; C! and P* never touch; and lower molars are nyctalodont.

Habitat. Degraded and relatively intact deciduous forests in western Madagascar and near disturbed lowland and humid forests and near agriculture in eastern Madagascar, recorded at elevations of 10-300 m.

Food and Feeding. Racey’s Pipistrelle is insectivorous. According to stomach samples, diet consisted of Isoptera (30% volume; 37-8% frequency), Coleoptera (27-8%; 789%), Lepidoptera (26-1%; 65-6%), Hymenoptera (125%; 47-8%), Trichoptera (1-9%; 10%), Homoptera (1-5%; 12-2%), and Arachnida (0-1%; 17%). Fecal samples of three individuals included Coleoptera (32:5% volume), Diptera (28-9%), Lepidoptera (16-:3%), Homoptera (117%), Araneae (6:8%), and Hymenoptera (3-9%).

Breeding. Births occur at beginning of rainy season (November-December).

Activity patterns. Racey’s Pipistrelle is nocturnal. It roosts in houses, other man-made structures, and vegetation. Call shape is FM/QCEF, and recordings of four individuals in Madagascar (three western and one eastern) had peak frequencies of 53-4-58-2 kHz, maximum frequencies of 91-:7-128-3 kHz, minimum frequencies of 41-7-51-4 kHz, and durations of 2-3-3-1 milliseconds.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Racey’s Pipistrelle roosted in the same building with the Malagasy Serotine ( Neoromicia matroka) and the Malagasy Myotis ( Myotis goudotii) in Ambalahosy, eastern Madagascar, but each was found in different positions between ceilingjoints and roofing.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. Preliminary evidence suggests that Racey’s Pipistrelle is common in lowland regions in Madagascar, but information is very limited on its ecology and threats.

Bibliography. ACR (2018), Bates et al. (2006), Goodman, Rakotondramanana etal. (2015), Goodman, Rasoanoro et al. (2014), Jenkins et al. (2008), Rakotondramanana et al. (2015), Rasoanoro et al. (2015), Wilkinson et al. (2012).