Myotis austroriparius (Rhodes, 1897)

D, K D., M, M B., M, M L., P, B L., S, J M., E, J W. & A, L K., 2017, N R S S B 13 T C F V S S P, Occasional Papers of the Museum 351, pp. 1-12 : 5-6

Myotis austroriparius (Rhodes, 1897)

Southeastern Myotis

The Southeastern Myotis has been widely documented throughout the southeastern United States and is known from three ecoregions in Texas; South Central Plains, East Central Plains, and Western Gulf Coastal Plains (Ammerman et al. 2012). It is in eastern Texas that the species reaches the westernmost part of its North American range. This year-round resident of the state is a species on which P. destructans has been detected, but no diagnostic signs of WNS have been observed (www.whitenosesyndrome.org).

Bowie County.—On 27 January 2017, a Southeastern Myotis of unknown sex was observed roosting in a culvert along I-30 near Hook, Texas (33.46593°N, 94.23925°W). This individual was located approximately 30 m from the entrance of the culvert at a height of 2.3 m and was alert and responsive. Due to the roosting height of the bat, this individual was not swabbed nor tested for signs of P. destructans and was not collected as a voucher. Although not a county record for the species ( Schmidly and Bradley 2016), this documentation of M. austroriparius represents the first winter observation of the Southeastern Myotis for Bowie County.

Walker County.—On 20 January 2017, an adult male M. austroriparius (ASNHC 18126, ASK 12682) was collected from a culvert 12.8 km south of Huntsville, Texas (30.62102°N, 95.50771°W) on I-45. This individual was swabbed, tested, and reported negative for P. destructans . Walker et al. (1996) previously reported a single captured specimen of M. austroriparius (TCWC 52871). Therefore, this voucher specimen provides additional verification of the occurrence of M. austroriparius in Walker County.