193.

Botta’s Serotine

Eptesicus bottae

French: Sérotine de Botta / German: Botta-Breitflligelfledermaus / Spanish: Eptesicus de Botta

Other common names: Botta's Serotine Bat

Taxonomy. Vesperus bottae Peters, 1869,

“Arabien.” Restricted by I. A. Nader and D. Kock in 1990 to the area between Hodeida, Hays, Ta’izz and Al Mukha, south-western Yemen.

Eptesicus bottae previously included E. ognevi and E. anatolicus as subspecies, although recent genetic studies by J. Juste and colleagues in 2013 found that all three species are valid. Eptesicus bottae appears to be either related to E. serotinus (using mitochondrial genes) or to E. anatolicus, E. hottentotus, or E. ognevi (using nuclear genes), but its position is still uncertain. I. V. Artyushin and colleagues in 2018 found a similarly conflicting dataset that supported the traditional view that E. bottae includes E. ognevi and E. anatolicus based on nuclear genes. Eptesicus ognevi and E. anatolicus are included as distinct species here, pending amore complete genetic and morphological study encompassing full distributions of all taxa in FE. bottae sensu lato . There are limited morphological and genetic distinctions between each ofthe recognized subspecies. Five subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution.

E.b.bottaePeters,1869—SWSaudiArabiaandWYemen.

E.b.hingstoniThomas,1919—MesopotamianregionofSyria,Iraq,andKuwait.

E.b.innesiLataste,1387—NEEgypt(NileDeltaandSinaiPeninsula),SIsrael,SWJordan,andNWSaudiArabia.

E.b.omanensisD.L.Harrison,1976—EUnitedArabEmiratesandEOman.

E. b. taftanimontis de Roguin, 1988 — SE Iran.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 56-67 mm, tail 44-54 mm, ear 15-6-17-7 mm, hindfoot 7-10 mm,forearm 38-47 mm; weight 8-9 g. Females average slightly larger than males. Pelage of Botta’s Serotineis soft and dense. Dorsal pelage is light to dark creamy buff, with grayish beige to rusty brown tinge (hairs are tricolored, with dark bases), ventral pelage is creamy to grayish beige (hairs bicolored, with white tips and pale grayish brown bases). Bare muzzle, ears, and membranes are pale grayish brown to dark brown; wings occasionally have narrow pale hind border. Earsare relatively short and subtriangular, with roundedtips; tragusis ¢.50% the ear length and is the same width from base to tip, with rounded tip. Wings and uropatagium are semi-translucent, and tail protrudes ¢.3-5 mm past uropatagium; postcalcarial lobe is well developed. Baculum is short (0-8-0-9 mm long), flat, stout, and triangular, with rounded corners. Skull is smaller and less heavily ridged than in the Eurasian Serotine ( E. serotinus); rostrum is broad and flattened, with shallow lateral concavities; there is well-marked median groove between orbits; braincase is ovoid, with only faint mastoid projections posterolaterally; forehead is weakly concave; lambdoidal crests are moderately developed; slightly convex supraoccipital just forms most posterior part of skull; sagittal crest is developed posteriorly and absent in some specimens; moderate occipital helmet is formed by sagittal and lambdoidal crests; tympanic bullae are relatively large compared with the Eurasian Serotine; and basioccipital is narrower than in the Eurasian Serotine. I* is large and bicuspid; I” is very small, only barely reaching above cingulum of I*; and lower molars are myotodont.

Habitat. Arid and semiarid deserts, steppes, and savannas, generally not far from water, from sea level up to elevations of ¢. 2100 m. Botta’s Serotines are also found in farmlands with water, prey, and day roosts and in ruins throughout their distribution.

Food and Feeding. Botta’s Serotine forages by slow hawking,flying high aboveground; it is reportedly strong and noisy in flight. In Israel, average flight speed was 5-7 m/s in dark areas and 9-3 m/s in streetlamp-lighted areas in the Negev Desert. It fed on insects around an electric light in Kurdistan.It fed mainly on Hymenoptera and Lepidoptera in Israel, but in Syria, it fed mostly on Coleoptera, followed by Heteroptera and Auchenorrhyncha and very small amounts of Lepidoptera, Orthoptera, Diptera (Brachycera), Mantodea, and Hymenoptera . Feces in Iran mostly contained Hymenoptera (Formicoidea; 89% by volume) and Coleoptera (Scarabaeidae) . In Oman, feces mostly contained Coleoptera, Hymenoptera (Formicoidea), and Heteroptera, with smaller amounts of Lepidoptera . Diet in Jordan included primarily Hymenoptera (Formicoidea) and Heteroptera. These data suggest that Botta’s Serotine feeds largely opportunistically, with preference for beetles in many cases.

Breeding. In Israel, two pregnant Botta’s Serotines, each with twin embryos, were captured in April.

Activity patterns. Day roosts of Botta’s Serotines are in crevices in buildings in areas with human habitation but probably crevices in rocks in more natural regions. They begin to forage by dusk in some localities, but in otherareas, they begin to forage after dusk. Search-call shape is FM/QCF sweep. In Alagan-Algtar, Saudi Arabia, recordings had start frequencies of 37-45 kHz and end frequencies of 28-30 kHz. In Jordan, start frequencies were 37-9-83 kHz, end frequencies were 27-337 kHz, peak frequencies were 29-6-39-5 kHz, durations were 2-7-9-4 milliseconds, and interpulse intervals were b2-241 milliseconds. In Israel, start frequencies were 38-51 kHz, end frequencies were 28-8-35 kHz, peak frequencies were 29-2-37.1 kHz, and duration averaged -2 milliseconds. In Egypt, start frequencies were 41-55-8 kHz, end frequencies were 28-3-31-4 kHz, peak frequencies were 30-8-36-7 kHz, durations were 6-6—10-3 milliseconds, and interpulse intervals were 122-301 milliseconds.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Botta’s Serotines generally roost groups of ¢.2-3 individuals, but solitary individuals have been observed. Maternity colonies of females and their young are larger and had up to 200 individuals in Egypt.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The [UCN Red List. Currently known distribution of Botta’s Serotine is now more restricted than when the species was assessed and is considerably scattered. It appears to be rare throughout much of distribution but is apparently locally common in Egypt. No major threats have been identified, but additional research on its ecology and threats is needed.

Bibliography. ACR (2018), Aloufi et al. (2016), Artyushin, Bannikova etal. (2009), Artyushin, Kruskop et al. (2018), Aulagnier et al. (2008), Benda, Andreas etal. (2006), Benda, Dietz et al. (2008), Benda, Ludan et al. (2010), Feldman et al. (2000), Hackett et al. (2017), Harrison (1968b, 1976), Holderied et al. (2005), Juste et al. (2013), Mayer al. (2007), Nader & Kock (1990), Polak et al. (2011), Shehab et al. (2007), Van Cakenberghe & Happold (2013b).