Myotis bocagii (Peters, 1870)

Cakenberghe, Victor Van, Tungaluna, Guy-Crispin Gembu, Akawa, Prescott Musaba, Seamark, Ernest & Verheyen, Erik, 2017, The bats of the Congo and of Rwanda and Burundi revisited (Mammalia: Chiroptera), European Journal of Taxonomy 382 (382), pp. 1-327 : 78

Myotis bocagii (Peters, 1870)

Fig. 35 E–F

Vespertilio Bocagii Peters, 1870: 125 .

* Myotis bocagei (Peters, 1870) .

* Myotis bocagei bocagei (Peters, 1870) .

* Myotis bocagei hildegardeae Thomas, 1904: 209 .

* Myotis bocagei cupreolus Thomas, 1904: 407 .

Besides 40 specimens identified to the specific level, Hayman et al. (1966: 51) recognized three subspecies, of which hildegardeae is currently included in the nominate subspecies. This agrees with a statement made by Hayman [in Fain 1953: 99]: “ … since the more specimens [of M. b. hildegardeae] I see, the less I think it possible to maintain hildegardeae as a valid race”. Happold (2013 an: 692) indicates that M. b. bocagii occurs in the woodland savannah from Ethiopia to Angola and the former Transvaal, and M. b. cupreolus in the rainforest from Liberia to the DRC. In the CRB area, Hayman et al. (1966, map 68) reported M. bocagii from the eastern part (provinces Bas-Uélé, Haut-Uélé, Ituri, Nord-Kivu, Sud- Kivu, Tanganyika, Haut-Lomami and Haut-Katanga), Rwanda, and from the western part (provinces Kongo Central, Kinshasa and Kwilu) of the DRC. They did not report any specimens from the more central areas or from the northwestern part of the country. We were able to trace specimens from the latter area and from almost all of the northern half of the country, as well as from Rwanda and Burundi, but none from the south-central provinces (Kasaï-Central, Kasaï Oriental, Lualaba). The distribution map given by Happold (2013 an: 693) doesn’t include any of the additional northern specimens and, therefore, separates the eastern distribution patches from the western ones. Our map suggests that both are connected and that only the border zone between the DRC and Angola might not be an optimal habitat for M. bocagii .

Figures

Fig. 35. Distribution maps. A–B. Kerivoula phalaena Thomas, 1912. C–D. Kerivoula smithii Thomas, 1880. E–F. Myotis bocagii (Peters, 1870). A, C, E. Distribution in the CRB area. B, D, F. Pan-African distribution.