Antonín Reiter

Alcathoe Bat (Myotis alcathoe) in the Czech Republic: Distributional Status, Roosting and Feeding Ecology

Between 2001 and 2008, we recorded Myotis alcathoe at nine sites within three distant areas in the Czech Republic. The species identification was confirmed with cyt b sequences and four distinct haplotypes were identified. All the localities exhibit surprisingly uniform habitat characteristics: (1) old full-grown oak-hornbeam forests, with (2) numerous large trees in advanced stages of decay are present, and (3) a very small to large water bodies and/or patches of riparian vegetation surrounded by the forest. Using radiotracking techniques, we discovered 27 day roosts of M. alcathoe, located mostly in big oak, birch and lime trees inside extensive forest stands. All roosts were fissures or small cavities in a tree trunk and in branches in the canopies, some 16m above the ground. Bats preferred trees that were higher, had higher canopy and canopy basement and had larger diameter at breast height than other available trees. Roost trees were surrounded by lower trees with lower canopy basements than available trees. Roost trees were in a poorer condition than other available trees. Roosts were occupied by up to 83 individuals in July but usually single individuals were found in the roosts in September. In contrast to syntopic M. mystacinus and M. brandtii, M. alcathoe has never been found in an anthropogenic roost (except for a fissure in concrete electricity pole). Preliminary analysis of the diet showed that nematoceran flies were the most important prey item along with spiders, caddis flies, small moths and neuropterans. In the observed ecological characteristics, M. alcathoe markedly differs from other European species of the genus Myotis. Its restricted habitat requirements are perhaps responsible for an islet-like pattern of its distribution and suggest an essential conservation value of the habitats of its occurrence.

Body size as an important factor determining trophic niche partitioning in three syntopic rhinolophid bat species

We investigated a community of syntopically occurring horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros, R. euryale, R. ferrumequinum) in southern Slovakia. The faecal pellets of these bat species were collected in the field and later analysed under a dissecting microscope. The three species studied are known to be very similar as far as their ecology, echolocation and preferred habitats are concerned, but they diverge significantly in their body sizes. In this study, all three species fed predominantly on moths [59–80 percentage frequency (%f); 87–95 percentage volume (%vol)], but their diet compositions differed in the size of individuals consumed. The smallest bat species (R. hipposideros) fed only on the smallest moths (%f = 59; %vol = 87), the medium-sized species (R. euryale) mainly on medium-sized moths (%f = 60; %vol = 74) and the largest one (R. ferrumequinum) especially on the largest moths (%f = 54; %vol = 89). Despite similar preferred habitat and the main prey category, the rates of trophic niche overlap were surprisingly low. The trophic niche percentage overlap was 7–31% (computed from %f data) and 1–20% (computed from %vol data), respectively and suggests an extraordinary importance of mere divergences of bats in their body sizes for trophic niche partitioning and stable species coexistence.

Dietary Composition, Resource Partitioning and Trophic Niche Overlap in Three Forest Foliage-Gleaning Bats in Central Europe

A diverse syntopic bat community was studied in Central Europe. The study was primarily aimed at forest bats utilizing a foliage-gleaning foraging strategy (Myotis nattereri, M. bechsteinii and Plecotus auritus). The results indicated the foliage-gleaning foraging strategy and the effective resource partitioning. Once a certain diet item comprises an important food resource for one bat species, it is usually exploited much less by the other two bat species, and despite important seasonal dietary changes this pattern lasts throughout the entire season. Dietary composition varies more among the entire guild of forest foliage-gleaning bats than it does between these species and their morphological siblings or evolutionarily related species (e.g., Plecotus auritus vs. P. austriacus or Barbastella barbastellus, Myotis nattereri vs. M. emarginatus). The results are not fully consistent with the predictions of sensory ecology, which presume that bats with longer ears feed more frequently on prey that generates sound. The results do not support the hypothesis that rare bats exploit a narrower range of prey. The relatively rare M. bechsteinii has a wider trophic niche, whereas the more common P. auritus exploits a narrower range of prey. Comparison of dietary composition and morphological and echolocation parameters indicates that larger species feed on harder prey, species with longer ears are moth-eating specialists and species with a higher call intensity exploit small dipterans, probably in uncluttered habitats.

Taxonomic Revision of the Genus Asellia (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) with a Description of a New Species from Southern Arabia

Two species are currently recognised within the genus Asellia, a typical inhabitant of arid areas of northern Africa and south-western Asia. Most of the distribution range of the genus is covered by Asellia tridens, while the other species, A. patrizii, is restricted to Ethiopia, Eritrea and several Red Sea islands. We analysed the morphological variation in an extensive set of Asellia samples covering the range of the genus, including most of the available type material. In a representative subset of samples, we employed molecular genetic analysis to infer the phylogenetic relationships within the broadly distributed A. tridens. Morphological comparisons revealed four distinct morphotypes. Except for the endemic A. patrizii, almost all African Asellia were found to belong to the same morphotype as most of the Middle Eastern specimens. This morphotype was unambiguously identified as A. tridens. Two other morphotypes of tentative A. tridens were further recognised based on skull shape differences; one in the southern Arabian region of Dhofar, the other in Socotra and Somalia. Phylogenetic analysis of complete sequences of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene yielded three main monophyletic groups, which corresponded to the morphotypes revealed for A. tridens. Significant genetic divergences reaching over 5% and 12%, respectively, were discovered between them. Based on the morphological and molecular data obtained, we propose a split of the current A. tridens into three separate species: A. tridens in northern Africa and most of the Middle East, A. italosomalica in Socotra and Somalia, and Asellia sp. nov. in southern Arabia. Molecular dating, along with the available paleontological information and geological history of the Arabian Peninsula, supports an Arabian origin of the contemporary Asellia. While profound divergence of the Socotran form may be linked to the split of Socotra from the southern Arabian coast in the Middle Miocene, the low sequence variation of Asellia in most of Africa and the Middle East suggests a relatively recent colonisation of this vast area during the Pleistocene. The newly described form from southern Arabia most likely represents a relic of aridisation during the Miocene-Pliocene transition.

Yellow-Bellied or White-Bellied? Identity of Arabian House Bats (Vespertilionidae: Scotophilus) Revealed from Mitochondrial DNA and Morphology

The yellow-bellied Scotophilus dinganii is the only African house bat species reported to occur in the Arabian Peninsula. Formerly, the Arabian house bats were referred to similar-looking white-bellied S. leucogaster, which differs from S. dinganii mainly by the colour of ventral pelage. We reassessed the taxonomic status of house bats from southwestern Yemen using genetic and morphological analyses. The Yemeni specimens clustered within two distantly related mitochondrial lineages of African Scotophilus: East African S. aff. dinganii, which is a paraphyletic group to S. dinganii s.str. from South Africa, and West African S. leucogaster. This taxonomic assignation was based on published sequences of reference museum specimens. Differences in external and cranial measurements also indicated the presence of two distinct taxa in Yemen. The Yemeni and comparative Ethiopian populations of S. aff. dinganii showed close morphological similarity to the type specimen of S. nigrita colias from Kenya. Because the Yemeni and Ethiopian yellow-bellied house bats cannot be synonymized with S. dinganii, the designation S. colias is tentatively suggested for this particular East African and Yemeni lineage of the S. dinganii complex. However, final correspondence of this name with the respective populations or applicability of some of other available names must yet be explored. Based on environmental differences of the Yemeni localities of origin, S. colias appears to be ecologically delimited to mountainous habitats, while S. leucogaster to harsh lowland deserts. This is consistent with known habitats of African populations of both species.

Mating and Courtship Behaviour of Two Sibling Bat Species (Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. pygmaeus) in the Vicinity of a Hibernaculum

In comparison with Pipistrellus pipistrellus, very little is known about the mating behaviour and hibernation of P. pygmaeus. The phenology of display and swarming behaviour were studied using bat detectors and mist nettings in the ruins of Nový Hrádek castle (southwestern Moravia, Czech Republic), where P. pipistrellus and P. pygmaeus hibernate in mixed-species clusters. We hypothesize that if both pipistrelle species share the same swarming site and hibernaculum they can compete with each other and their mating and courtship activity can be separate over time. The highest songflight activity was found between mid-August and mid-September. At the beginning of the mating period, songflights of both species were recorded in the second third of the night, whereas from the end of September, the peak of display activity moved to the first third of the night. We did not find clear evidence for temporal niche partitioning between species during autumn mating behaviour at locality of study. Proportion of P. pygmaeus observed in the hibernaculum was significantly higher than its observed in acoustic recordings and in mist-netted bats. It may show different mating behaviour between both pipistrelle species. Males of P. pipistrellus produced display calls close to hibernacula, whereas males of P. pygmaeus probably mate elsewhere, likely before any long autumnal migration near nursery colonies.

A New Species of Pipistrelle Bat (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from Southern Arabia

A new species of the genus Pipistrellus is described from the Dhofar region, southern Arabia. The new species occurs in a very limited area lesser than 1,000 km2, situated in the belt of relative humid savannah habitats of coastal Arabia between easternmost Yemen and south-western Oman. This bat represents the eighth pipistrelle species known from Arabia and fourth bat species endemic to southern Arabia. The new species is positioned morphologically and genetically very close to the group of the Oriental species of the genus Pipistrellus and represents the westernmost offshoot of the Oriental vespertilionid bat fauna, isolated for more than 1,500 km across the Indian Ocean from the area of continuous distribution of this fauna in the Indian Subcontinent.