72.

Little Pied Bat

Chalinolobus picatus

French: Chalinolobe pie / German: Kleine Lappenfledermaus / Spanish: Calinolobo pequeno

Other common names: Pied Bat

Taxonomy. Scotophilus picatus Gould, 1852,

Capt. Sturt’s Depot, New South Wales, Australia.

This species is monotypic.

Distribution. E Australia, in SE Queensland, NW New South Wales, and E South Australia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 39-6-50 mm, tail 29-39 mm, ear 7-5-11-3 mm, forearm 31-36 mm; weight 3-8 g. The Little Pied Bat is the smallest species of wattled bat. Dorsal pelage is glossy black; ventral pelage is glossy black faintly washed with gray, except the margin between ventral pelage and membranes, which is white and makes a V-shape stretching from forearms down to pubic region where it converges, extending onto base of ventral portion of membranes; long dorsal fur extends onto much of uropatagium, grading into a fringe of brownish black hairs. Facial skin, ears, arms and membranes are blackish. Ears are short and broad with ribbing on inner surface, and have small fleshy lobes on lower margin close to lips, and extending under eyes; tragus is pointed inward, rounded, and stubby. A fleshy lobe at corner of mouth is very poorly developed compared with congeners. Uropatagium extends to end oftail. Skull has less pronounced supraorbital swellings than in congeners; there is intermediate contrast between interorbital and intertemporal widths, compared to the Hoary Wattled Bat ( C. nigrogriseus) and the Chocolate Wattled Bat ( C. morio); there is no sagittal crest. I* has a posterior cusp; I’ is ¢.40% of height of I? above cingulum; P* is minute but present; P* has an anterointernal cusp; lower molars are myotodont.

Habitat. Little Pied Bats seem to reach their greatest abundance in mallee, mixed woodlands, mulga ( Acacia, Fabaceae), and riverine open forest communities around permanent or semi-permanent water bodies, although they have also been reported in dry open forest, open woodlands, chenopod shrublands, Callitris (Cupressaceae) forest, and Casuarina pauper (Casuarinaceae) woodlands. Recorded at elevations of 40-400 m.

Food and Feeding. Little Pied Bats are fast fliers and are highly maneuverable, changing direction often and flying close to vegetation while foraging. Foraging bats have been observed gleaning off walls with a distinctive up-and-down sweeping action; they also hunted aerially, with many swoops and dives. One stomach contained only moths.

Breeding. A pregnant female with two well-developed fetuses was taken in late October. Lactating females were reported in late October, November, and December.

Activity patterns. Little Pied Bats are nocturnal, leaving the day roost around dusk and returning around dawn. During the day, they roost in trees, caves, buildings, and abandoned mines. Cave roosts are usually warm and dry, with ambient roost temperatures sometimes over 40°C. Tree roosts have been recorded in hollows in C. pauper, mulga, and large eucalypts; the bats prefer hollows in larger mature trees with dead limbs, or dead and fallen trees that have left a hollowed stump. Hollows are usually large with variably sized entrances. Call shape is a shallow FM/QCF sweep.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Little Pied Bats may roost singly or in colonies of up to 80, but usually in groups of under ten. Roosts are switched nearly every day, but remain in the same general area. Members of a colony roosting in a clump of small, dead mulga near Bourke, New South Wales, commuted 17 km to forage in a dry creek bed, returning in the morning, making a round trip of 34 km per night.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. The Little Pied Bat is generally uncommon throughout much of its distribution but can be locally common around permanent or semi-permanent water. It may be disappearing from the central portion of its range due to agricultural activities. The species cannot survive well in fragmented habitats and requires large areas of ideal habitat. With this in mind, habitat fragmentation and destruction are the greatest threats, especially since large-scale habitat loss has occurred and continues across the eastern portion of the range in Queensland. In New South Wales, ¢.10% ofits overall distribution has been cleared for cotton over the past 50 years, and the process continues today. In wellconnected small remnants of native habitat, the species currently persists, but populations seem to be decreasing throughout its range. It is also threatened to a lesser extent by roost disturbance, timber harvesting, and the changing offire regimes.

Bibliography. Churchill (2008), Dominelli (2000), Ellis & Pennay (2008), Ford et al. (2008), Pennay & Freeman (2005), Pennay et al. (2011), Richards (1979), Ryan (1966), Schulz et al. (1994), Van Deusen & Koopman (1971), Young & Ford (2000).