123.

Zulu Serotine

Neoromicia zuluensis

French: Vespére zouloue / German: Zulu-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Neoromicia zuluense

Other common names: Aloe Bat, Aloe Serotine, Aloe Serotine Bat, Zulu Pipistrelle Bat, Zulu Serotine Bat

Taxonomy. Eptesicus zuluensis Roberts, 1924,

White Umfolosi Game Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Treated in Nycterikaupius by H. Menu in 1987. Often included in N. somalica, but separated by I. LL. Rautenbach and colleagues in 1993, based on chromosomal differences. Populations of north-eastern Botswana, northern Namibia, and perhaps Angola may represent a valid subspecies, vansoni. Monotypic.

Distribution. Widespread but disjunct in E & S Africa: Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Kenya; C Angola, extreme S DR Congo, and Zambia S to S South Africa.

Descriptive notes. Head-body ¢.40-45 mm, tail 27-40 mm, ear 7-11 mm, hindfoot 5-8 mm, forearm 27-33 mm; weight 3-6 g. Pelage of the Zulu Serotineis soft, dense, and without sheen; dorsally medium brown, sometimes paler on rump, and sometimes slightly tinged orange (hairs blackish brown, sometimes with paler middle, and medium to pale brown tip; mid-dorsal hairs 6-7 mm long); ventrally paler and grayer (hairs very dark gray with pale grayish brown or gray tip). Wings are dark brown, slightly translucent, mostly without white hind border; interfemoral membrane dark brown, slightly translucent. Ears are brown,relatively short, and subtriangular with rounded tip; tragus is about one-half ear length; anterior margin smoothly concave, posterior margin smoothly convex, but with shallow rounded angle below mid-height, and with basal lobe prominent, folded, and triangular. Eyes are very small. Skull is small in comparison with other African pipistrelle-like bats (greatest skull lengths 11-3-12-9 mm); braincase is comparatively high and narrow, interorbital region quite narrow, rostrum fairly short and narrow; profile of forehead is weakly to moderately concave, and sometimes raised; braincase has no occipital helmet and is smoothly rounded posteriorly. I? is large, usually unicuspid, but sometimes bicuspid; I’ is one-half height of I?, and higher than cingulum of I? but lower than secondary cusp, if present; P* is almost always absent, butif present, minute and hardly visible above gum; lower molars are myotodont. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 28 and FNa = 50 (sometimes erroneously given as 48).

Habitat. Semi-desert grassland and shrubland, Acacia (Fabaceae) — Commiphora (Burseraceae) deciduous bushland, and thicket vegetation zones in Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan. Woodland savanna (including miombo woodland), and drier shrublands and bushlands in the south-west arid zone of south-central Africa and southern Africa. Elevational range is 500-2650 m.

Food and Feeding. The Zulu Serotine forages by slow hawking in moderateto highclutter spaces, including near tree canopies, glades in woodland, open spaces between tree trunks and lower branches, and clearings around buildings. Diet includes moths and beetles. A captive fed on winged termites, and drank water irregularly.

Breeding. At 15° S in Malawi, one adult female was pregnant with two embryos in October, one was lactating in November, and in February one was post-lactating while another was reproductively inactive. A juvenile was caught in December and two subadults were recorded in April. Two males with abdominal testes were recorded in November and December, and one with scrotal testes in June. These data suggest restricted seasonal monoestry with births in the beginning of the wet season.

Activity patterns. Flight speed is moderate and maneuverability high, with aspect ratio low and wing loading very low; the species can take off from the ground. In Malawi, at 20-21°C, the Zulu Serotine becomes torpid during the day. In Malawi, from two tethered bats, search-phase call shape in cluttered environment was steep FM/QCF with QCF “heels” short to long; intensity high, start frequency up to 79 kHz, end frequencies and peak frequencies 48-50 kHz, and maximum duration 5-5 milliseconds. Of several studies in South Africa, one (Waterberg) gave maximum frequencies of 59-1-92-8kHz, minimum frequencies 45-7-50-5 kHz, frequencies of the knee 48-4— 55-8 kHz, characteristic frequencies 46-3-51-2 kHz, and durations 1-7-3 milliseconds.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.

Bibliography. ACR (2017), Fenton & Bogdanowicz (2002), Happold et al. (2013), Hill & Harrison (1987), Menu (1987), Kearney etal. (2002), Koopman (1993, 1994), Linden et al. (2014), Menu (1987), Monadjem, Shapiro et al. (2017), Rautenbach et al. (1993), Taylor, Monadjem & Steyn (2013), Taylor, Sowler et al. (2013).