Corynorhinus rafinesquii (Lesson, 1827)

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 : 3

Corynorhinus rafinesquii (Lesson, 1827)

Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat

An inhabitant of tree hollows, caves, and manmade structures throughout its distributional range in the southeastern United States, Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat reaches its westernmost distributional boundary in the South Central Plains region of eastern Texas. Although captures of this species have been recorded from May through December ( Schmidly and Bradley 2016), only two winter roosts have been documented ( Mirowsky et al. 2004). Due to its state-listed threatened status, and the documentation of C. rafinesquii as a bat species upon which P. destructans has been detected (www.whitenosesyndrome.org), we suggest that efforts should be undertaken to document winter distribution records in order to help future monitoring efforts and contribute to understanding the potential for C. rafinesquii to spread the fungus.

Marion County.— On 26 January 2017, a specimen of unknown sex was observed at a Hwy 49 culvert (32.78912°N, 94.25073°W) 8.1 km southwest of Smithland , Texas . Due to the state-listed status of this species, this specimen was not collected. However, a photograph was taken for species verification ( Fig. 2 ). This observation provides support for an existing voucher specimen (Stephen F. Austin State University #2933) that was overlooked in Ammerman et al. (2012) and is the first winter documentation of C. rafinesquii in the county. Marion County is the northernmost documentation of Rafinesque’s Big-eared Bat in Texas .

Figures

Figure 2. Corynorhinus rafinesquii observed roosting in a box culvert in Marion County, Texas, on 26 January 2017. Photograph by Krysta D. Demere.