Nyctalus noctula (Schreber, 1774)

Voon-Ching Lim, Rosli Ramli, Subha Bhassu & John-James Wilson, 2017, A checklist of the bats of Peninsular Malaysia and progress towards a DNA barcode reference library, PLoS ONE 12 (7), pp. 1-65 : 47

Nyctalus noctula [Schreber, 1774] (?)

Vespertilios noctula Schreber, 1774: 166 , pl. 52; FRANCE (Collector unknown; Type unknown) [ 202].

Nyctalus noctula [ 8].

Common English name: Eurasian Noctule

Barcode Index Number: DNA barcodes recorded as N. noctula are associated with BIN, BOLD: AAC 7411, but there are no DNA barcodes from Peninsular Malaysia.

Remarks: Chasen [ 8] suggested that the species in Peninsular Malaysia may represents N. n. labiate = labiatus Hodgson, 1835 (type locality = Nepal) which also occurs in Pakistan and India [ 9]. N. n. labiatus is considered to be morphologically distinct from N. noctula and therefore, should be raised as a species [ 203]. The records of N. noctula from Peninsular Malaysia, if valid, may be referable to “labiatus” or “plancyi” [ 203].

IUCN status: Least Concern

Recorded at: There is only one record of N. noctula in this region which is an old skin dated 1838 purchased in Singapore [ 204] but its origin remains doubtful [ 23]. Based on the purchased skin, Dobson [ 204] included Peninsular Malaysia in the distribution range of N. noctula , which was followed by Corbet and Hill [ 9] and Medway [ 23]. We could not find recent records for the species although it is thought to occur in Peninsular Malaysia [ 1, 10]. We found two old records which reported two specimens of Nyctalus sp. in a National Park, Pahang [ 87] and Ulu Langat Forest Reserve, Selangor [ 88]. However, there are no specimens deposited in the DWNP collection.

N. noctula roosts in tree hollows and forages high above canopy [ 14, 23].