224.

Rodriguez's Harvest Mouse

Reithrodontomys rodriguezi

French: Souris-moissonneuse de Rodriguez / German: Rodriguez-Erntemaus / Spanish: Raton espiguero de Rodriguez

Taxonomy. Reithrodontomys rodriguezi Goodwin, 1943, Volcan de Iraza, 9400 ft (= 2865 m), Cartago Province, Costa Rica.

Reithrodontomys rodriguezi is in subgenus Aporodon. Monotypic.

Distribution. Known only from the type locality and surrounding areas in C Costa Rica.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 77-83 mm, tail 116-121 mm, ear 14-15 mm, hindfoot 20-21 mm. No specific data are available for body weight. Rodriguez’s Harvest Mouse is medium-sized. Dorsal pelage 1s long, dense, soft, and cinnamon-buff, darkened with black hairs. Venteris white. Tail is longer than head-body length and uniform in color. Feet are white, with dusky outline to bases of toes.

Habitat. Grassland adjacent to a wet forest (two specimens) and on slopes of Barva Volcano. Rodriguez’s Harvest Mice have ben trapped on the ground,in low vegetation in elfin forest, and in the fork of a tree c.3 m aboveground.

Food and Feeding. Rodriguez's Harvest Mouse was seen feeding on the nectar of Blakea sp. (Melastomataceae) and may be one of the pollinatorsfor this plant.

Breeding. A pregnant female was captured in July.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List because its extent of occurrence is probably less than 5000 km?; it should be monitored closely.

Bibliography. Goodwin (1943), Hall (1981), Hooper (1952a), Timm et al. (1989).