Diaemus youngii (Jentink, 1893)
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https://doi.org/ 10.5281/zenodo.6458594 |
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6715197 |
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https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03A687BC-FFBD-FFBD-138A-F9E6F581F58D |
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Plazi |
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Diaemus youngii |
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16. View Plate 35: Phyllostomidae
White-winged Vampire Bat
French: Vampire des oiseaux / German: Weif 3flligelvampir / Spanish: Vampiro de alas blancas
Taxonomy. Desmodus youngii Jentink, 1893 View in CoL ,
“ Berbice, New Amsterdam, British Guyana [= Guyana].” Restricted by C. G. Young in 1896 to “Upper Canje Creek,” a tributary of the Berbice River, Fast Berbice-Corentyne, Guyana.
Taxonomy of D. youngii remains stable and well understood. Monotypic.
Distribution. E Mexico from Tamaulipas S through Central and South America to E Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, S Brazil, and N Argentina; also on Margarita and Trinidad Is. View Figure
Descriptive notes. Head-body 82-85 mm (tailless), ear 17-19 mm, hindfoot 17-20 mm, forearm 51-54 mm; weight 31-48 g. The White-winged Vampire Bat is mediums-sized and about the samesize as other Desmodontinae species. Dorsum is golden brown, sometimes with reddish tinge. Venteris paler, sometimes whitish. Edges of wing membranes are white, a distinctive characteristic. Common Vampire Bats ( Desmodus rotundus ) also can have a bit of white in wingtips, but it is never as extensive or as white as on White-winged Vampire Bats. Rostrum is short, and mandible protrudes beyond maxilla, as in other sanguivorous bats. Males and females have pair of musky glands on insides of cheeks inside their mouths. These glands are extruded and exude a characteristic smell, similar to that of skunks, when individuals are excited or distressed, presumably as a defense mechanism, but glands are visible whenever the mouth is open. Noseleat is rudimentary, with folds and wrinkles similar to those of Common Vampire Bat. Eyes are black and large but smaller than in the Hairy-legged Vampire Bat ( Diphylla ecaudata ). Ears of the White-winged Vampire Bat are small and triangular. Feet are large, and legs and arms are robust and strong. Thumb is strong and well developed but shorter than in the Common Vampire Bat. Thumb hassingle pad compared to two pads in the Common Vampire Bat. The White-winged Vampire Bat lacks calcar. Lower lip is grooved, giving clear appearance of a V-shaped lip that aids in ingestion of flowing blood. Dental formulais 11/2, C1/1,P 1/2,M 2/1 (x2) = 22. Upperincisors are very well developed and are used to inflict the wound from which it will feed. Upper canines are also very well developed. Molars and premolars are minute, given that they are not needed for a liquid-based diet. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 32 and FN = 60. All autosomes are either metacentric or submetacentric, except for one pair of medium subtelocentric chromosomes. X-chromosome is large and submetacentric, and Y-chromosome is minute acrocentric.
Habitat. Many tropical habitats, including lowland tropical rainforests, tropical subhumid forests, pastures, thorn forests, and dry tropical forests from sea level to elevations of ¢. 500 m. In northern part of the distribution, White-winged Vampire Bats avoid dry tropical areas of western Mexico and can only be found in moist forests in southern and eastern Mexico. They tend to form small colonies of a maximum of 2-3 dozen individuals that roost in caves or hollow trees. They can share roosts with many other species including short-tailed bats ( Carolia spp.), Pallas’s Long-tongued Bats ( Glossophaga soricina ), Lesser Dog-like Bats ( Peropteryx macrotis ), Woolly False Vampire Bats ( Chrotopterus auritus ), Tailed Tailless Bats ( Anoura caudifer ), Little Yellow-shouldered Bats ( Sturnira Lilium ), Great Fruit-eating Bats ( Artibeus lituratus ), White-lined Broadnosed Bats ( Platyrrhinus lineatus ), and Common Vampire Bats. White-winged Vampire Bats seem to be sensitive to disturbance by humans in their roosts and foraging habitats. They are among the first to disappear after habitat fragmentation, disturbance, or destruction. A colony of several hundred individuals on the coast of Veracruz, Mexico, disappeared over two years due to frequent disturbance by humans. Other species such as Sowell’s Short-tailed Bat ( C. sowelli ) and Pallas’s Long-tongued Bat remained in the cave despite disturbance.
Food and Feeding. Diet of the White-winged Vampire Bat is 100% blood from vertebrates, and avian blood is preferred over mammalian blood. Recorded prey includes subadult and adult chickens, pigeons, goats, and cattle. White-winged Vampire Bats are commonly captured when they feed on domestic animals, and unfortunately, very little is known about wild prey. In captivity, they have been offered parrots, toucans, pigeons, orioles, flycatchers, robins, manakins, and others. They did not hesitate to attack all kinds of birds in captivity except the smallest species such as hummingbirds. Sometimes, feeding on the blood of a bird caused its death. To feed, typical behavior of the White-winged Vampire Bat is to fly to a perch where preyis sleeping and approach it along underside of branch. Site chosen to bite (usually toes, cloaca, or body parts that are not covered by feathers) is licked for ten seconds to two minutes and then bitten; blood is ingested with the aid of the tongue and lower lip. When prey wakes up or is otherwise disturbed, the bat retreats to underside of branch. The Whitewinged Vampire Bat does not attack avian prey that sleeps on the ground. It tends to avoid feeding during heavy winds, rain, or bright moonlight.
Breeding. Female White-winged Vampire Bats have single embryos. They do not show reproductive synchrony, paralleling aseasonality of food availability. Gestation has been estimated at c¢.7 months. They seem to form harems, similar to other vampire bats, and changesin testicles of adult males suggest the same.
Activity patterns. No information.
Movements, Home range and Social organization. White-winged Vampire Bats are highly vocal. Individuals produce duetlike antiphonal calls when feeding on poultry, when leaving roosts, and when isolated. Under experimental conditions, they emitted social calls only in the presence of other conspecifics or when conspecifics were within “earshot.” When no other bat was present or there was no audible call or response from other bats even if unseen, the experimental individual remained silent or emitted very few calls. The antiphonal interaction also occurred within 500 milliseconds after a bat heard a call from a conspecific. Although no specific individual recognition is evident,there is evidence that individuals can discern calls from particular individuals during playback experiments. The only record of a rabid White-winged Vampire Bat was from Trinidad in 1961.
Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCN Red List.
Bibliography. Carter et al. (2008), Greenhall & Schutt (1996), Scheffer et al. (2015), Uieda et al. (1992), Young (1896).
No known copyright restrictions apply. See Agosti, D., Egloff, W., 2009. Taxonomic information exchange and copyright: the Plazi approach. BMC Research Notes 2009, 2:53 for further explanation.
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Diaemus youngii
| Don E. Wilson & Russell A. Mittermeier 2019 |
Desmodus youngii
| Jentink 1893 |