67.

Eastern Forest Bat

Vespadelus pumilus

French: Petit Vespertilion / German: Ostliche Hohlen-Waldfledermaus / Spanish: Vespadela pequeia

Other common names: Little Brown Bat

Taxonomy. Scotophilus pumilus J. E. Gray, 1841, Yarrundi, New South Wales, Australia.

Vespadelus pumilus was previously considered to include V. caurinus, V. finlaysoni, V. troughtoni, and V. darlingtoni as synonyms or subspecies, but their specific status is supported by morphological data. Monotypic.

Distribution. E Australia, along E coast of Queensland.and NE New South Wales, from Atherton Tablelands, Kirrama, and Kroombit Top to just N of Sydney. Distribution is probably wider than currently known along coast.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 35-442 mm, tail 27-6-33: 7 mm, ear 9-11-9 mm, forearm 28-4-33 mm; weight 3-5-5-5 g. Pelage is long and thick; dorsally dark chocolatebrown (hairs almost black basally), ventrally much lighter brown; fur extends sparsely onto dorsal surface of uropatagium. Face, ears, and membranes are dark brown to blackish. Ears are small and rounded triangular with smoothly convex anterior edge; tragus is narrow, anteriorly straight or slightly concave, posteriorly convex, and with a rounded tip and slight posterobasal lobe. Uropatagium reaches to tip oftail. Penisis small and distinctly angular, and is not swollen at tip; glans is a blunt rod-shape and is dorso-ventrally compressed. Baculum is very short (mean 1-6 mm), arrow-shaped in dorsal view, and moderately flat in lateral view (base has slightly thickened dorsoventral inflection). Skull is short; lambdoidal crestis weaklyto moderately developed; anterior narial notch is usually V-shaped but occasionally narrow U-shaped; rostrum is comparatively 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, slight, or moderate, and absent or slight on M*.

Habitat. Moist forest habitats, including tropical and subtropical rainforest, wet sclerophyll forests with rainforest gullies, and bunya pine ( Araucaria bidwillii, Araucariaceae) plantations. The species occupies areas with mature trees where it can roost but is also found in regrowth forests. Recorded from sea level to over 2000 m, on Great Dividing Range.

Food and Feeding. Eastern Forest Bats usually forage in open spaces among trees, and between canopy and understory, generally avoiding dense regrowth but favoring riparian zones. They do not seem to forage over a wide area, using only a 4ha area during the mating season (April) and 6 ha after births (November), in a study in northern New South Wales. Diet in northern New South Wales included moths, beetles, flies, ants, wasps, and true bugs.

Breeding. Mating takes place in April in New South Wales, births occurring in October. Litter size appears to be two. Lactation has been recorded from October to November. Maximum life span recorded is six years, with mean life expectancy of 0-8-1-3 years.

Activity patterns. The Eastern Forest Bat leaves the roost at dusk to forage during the night. During the day,it stays in its day roost, and appears to enter torpor twice a day during summer (no data for winter) in New South Wales. The species entered torpor in two bouts during early morning and late afternoon, each lasting c.4 hours. It roosts mainly in tree hollows, ranging from large cavities in hollow trunks to small hollows in branches; it prefers roosting in mature trees (dead or alive) that offer a variety of roosting hollows, generally close to water; at the onset of winter,it seems to roost more commonly in dead trees further from water. Call shape is FM/QCF with a long ending sweep, ranging in frequency at 50-57 kHz.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Females form maternity colonies in tree hollows in November, some colonies exceeding 54 individuals. Maternity colonies are always recorded close to water sources. Males usually roost alone, although they share roosts with females during the mating season in April. Males usually occupy the smaller hollows, and one was found roosting within an epiphytic elkhorn fern. The species usually switches to a new roost daily but may stay at the same one for up to six days.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List. No major threats to the Eastern Forest Bat are currently known, although in New South Wales, deforestation for urban development probably has a negative impact.

Bibliography. Churchill (2008), Kitchener et al. (1987), Law & Anderson (2000), Law & Chidel (2002), Law, Chidel & Law (2018), Law, Reinhold & Pennay (2002), Law, Turbill & Parnaby (2008), Pennay & Hall (2008a), Turbill et al. (2003).