Glauconycteris beatrix Thomas, 1901

Bates, Paul J. J., Cameron, Kenneth, Pearch, Malcolm J. & Hayes, Benjamin, 2013, A review of the bats (Chiroptera) of the Republic of Congo, including eight species new to the country, Acta Chiropterologica 15 (2), pp. 313-340 : 324-325

Glauconycteris beatrix Thomas, 1901

Beatrix butterfly bat

Glauconycteris beatrix Thomas, 1901: 256 ; Benito River, 15 miles from the mouth, Spanish Guinea (= Equatorial Guinea).

New material

HZM.1.40181 , ♀, 29 July, 2012, Airport Road , Lekoumou, 2°45.724’S, 13°34.953’E . This is the first authenticated record for Congo ( Appendix I ). According to Happold and Happold (2013), it is ‘rarely recorded’ throughout its range in Africa.

Description

A medium-small bat with a forearm length of 40.8 mm ( Table 2 ). The pelage is dark brown throughout but with a patch of pure white hairs at the base of each humerus. Unlike G. alboguttata , the muzzle, chin, sides of the face, ears, tragi, outer borders of the wing, forearms and digits (upper and lower surfaces) are all grey-brown not whitish. Each tragus is short with an almost straight anterior border and a rounded posterior border with a basal notch ( Fig. 8B ). The skull is small with a greatest length of 11.74 mm ( Table 3 ). It is broad with a small rostrum and an inflated braincase ( Fig. 9A ). The first upper incisor (I 2) has a well-defined secondary cusp; the second (I 3) is unicuspid and very small ( Fig. 9A ). The upper premolar (P 4) is between half and two-thirds the crown area of the first molar (M 1) ( Fig. 9A ). The third molar (M 3) has three commissures. The first two lower incisors (I 1 and I 2) are tricuspidate (the middle cusp is not enlarged) and about equal in size; I 3 is slightly larger and with a cusplet on the cingulum, posteriorly. The first lower premolar (P 2) is two-thirds the crown area and about half the height of the second (P 4); both P 2 and P 4 have well-defined cingular cusps on the anterior, interior cingulum.

Taxonomic notes

Currently there are no recognised subspecies (or named forms) referred to this species ( Simmons, 2005; Happold and Happold, 2013). Eger and

Schlitter (2001) provide useful taxonomic information about this taxon (and G. alboguttata ).

Figures

APPENDIX I A list of the forty-three bat species currently recorded from Congo, including citations in the literature and locality data. CS (Conservation status – NT: Near threatened; DD: Data deficient; LC: Least concern) is based on IUCN Red List of Threatened Species retrieved on 8 May, 2013. Two species listed here have not been assessed (na) by IUCN for their conservation status but rather have been included within other taxa: Triaenops afer in Triaenops persicus and Chaerephon leucogaster in Tadarida pumila. Superscripts associated with localities in column 4 refer to the superscripts for the literature cited in column 3

FIG. 8. Right tragus of (A): Glauconycteris alboguttata, HZM.1.40172, ♀; (B): G. beatrix, HZM.1.40181, ♀; (C): Hypsugo crassulus, HZM.1.40190, ♂; (D): Neoromicia brunnea, HZM.1.40191, ♂; (E): N. nana, HZM.321.40186, ♂; (F): N. tenuipinnis, HZM.7.40170, ♀; (G): Pipistrellus nanulus, HZM.1.40189, ♂; (H): Mimetillus moloneyi, HZM.10.40177, ♂; (I): Miniopterus inflatus, HZM.19.40182, ♂. Scale = 2 mm

FIG. 9. Skulls of two species of Glauconycteris, including lateral view of right upper incisors and occlusal view of left mandibular dentition [left] and left maxillary dentition [right] of (A): G. beatrix, HZM.1.40181, ♀ and (B): G. alboguttata, HZM.1.40172, ♀. Scales for skulls and occlusal views of toothrows (left and right) = 2 mm; scale for upper incisors (centre) = 1 mm