Plecotus homochrous Hodgson, 1847

Saikia, Uttam, Chakravarty, Rohit, Csorba, Gabor, Laskar, Mostaque Ahmed & Ruedi, Manuel, 2025, Taxonomic reassessment of bats from the Western Himalayas, India and description of a new species of the Myotis frater complex (Mammalia, Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae), Zootaxa 5644 (1), pp. 1-78 : 52-54

26. Plecotus homochrous Hodgson, 1847

(Hodgson’s long–eared bat)

New material: 1 M, 26.04.2021, Chopta, Chamoli District , Uttarakhand ( V /M/ERS/654); 1 M , 27.04.2021, Kanchula Kharak, Chamoli District , Uttarakhand ( V /M/ERS/655) .

Morphological description of specimens: This is a medium–sized vespertilionid with forearm length of 36.2– 39.4 mm in our measured specimens. As for all the congeneric species, it was instantly recognizable from its very distinctive long ears. The fur was long, buffy brown on the back and shorter ginger brown on the belly. The oval shaped ears joined over the forehead through a thin membrane. The ears were semi–translucent and had many prominent horizontal ridges and a semi–circular lobe projected from the base of the anterior border. The wings and tail membrane were light brown, hairless and the long tail was fully enclosed within the membrane. The wing attacheed to the mid metatarsus and calcar lobe was absent.

DNA: No biological material was obtained from these specimens, but COI haplotypes of Pl. homochrous from Uttarkhand (GB MN339194 and MN339195 ) were already reported by Chakravarty et al. (2020) and differed considerably from sympatric Pl. wardi (>12% K2P) or from Pl. auritus (>15% K2P; Table S2) with which it was previously associated (e.g., Bates & Harrison 1997). Fukui et al. (2020) obtained similar phylogenetic results with other mtDNA markers.

Locality records and ecological notes: Uttarakhand: Devalsari (1698 m), Dhanaulti (2114 m) in Tehri Garhwal district; Ansuya Devi (2000 m), Chopta (2800 m) and Kanchula Kharak (2510 m) and Shokharakh (3065 m) in Chamoli district; Phurkia (c. 3250 m) in Bagheswar district ( Chakravarty et al. 2020; present study) . Himachal Pradesh: Ratandi (2700 m), Shimla district ( Bhat et al. 1983) .

The current specimens were taken from mixed temperate broadleaf forests and sub–alpine rhododendron forests. Previously in Uttarakhand, individuals were also caught in dense primary forests of oak, cedar, or sub– alpine rhododendron ( Chakravarty et al. 2020). Although according to Spitzenberger et al. (2006), Pl. homochrous has been recorded in the southern slopes of the Himalayas generally at lower elevations than P. wardi , records of Pl. homochrous from Western Himalayas indicate it to be a highland species that often occurs in syntopy with Pl. wardi ( Chakravarty et al. 2020) . Additionally, four individuals were also collected at high elevation sites (2200 m) in northern Vietnam, suggesting that throughout its geographical range Pl. homochrous is a highland species ( Fukui et al. 2020; Chakravarty et al. 2024).