Lasiurus (Dasypterus) ega (Gervais, 1856)

Velazco, Paúl M., Voss, Robert S., Fleck, David W. & Simmons, Nancy B., 2021, Mammalian Diversity And Matses Ethnomammalogy In Amazonian Peru Part 4: Bats, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 2021 (451), pp. 1-201 : 133

Lasiurus (Dasypterus) ega (Gervais, 1856)

Figure 33

VOUCHER MATERIAL: None.

UNVOUCHERED OBSERVATIONS: We captured 10 individuals of Lasiurus ega at El Chino Village between 18 and 21 February 2019.

IDENTIFICATION: Lasiurus ega is a widespread species distributed from the southern United States to northern Argentina (Kurta and Lehr, 1995; Gardner and Handley, 2008). This species can be distinguished from other congeners by its yellowish dorsal and ventral fur, lack of pelage frosting, black dactylopatagium, and presence of only one upper premolar (Gardner and Handley, 2008; López-Baucells et al., 2018). Descriptions and measurements of L. ega have been provided by Husson (1962, 1978), Kurta and Lehr (1995), Gardner and Handley (2008), and Giménez and Giannini (2011). Four subspecies are currently recognized: L. e. argentinus ( Paraguay, Uruguay, southern Bolivia, southeastern Brazil, and northern Argentina); L. e. ega (throughout most of tropical South America east of the Andes); L. e. fuscatus (western Colombia and Ecuador); and L. e. panamensis (Texas to northern Colombia and northwestern Venezuela) (Gardner and Handley, 2008).

The specimens we examined from El Chino Village were unambiguously identified as Lasiurus ega based on external characters.

REMARKS: Of the 10 individuals of Lasiurus ega captured at El Chino, two were taken 5–10 m above the ground in a macro net, and the rest were taken by hand from roosts about 3 m above the ground in the palm-frond roof thatch of a pavilion in the village plaza (fig. 33B). The first group, captured on 18 February 2019, consisted of three females that were roosting tightly packed together about 30 cm up inside the edge of the thatch, but clearly visible from the ground. The second and third groups, captured on 21 February 2019 under similar circumstances, consisted of three individuals (all females) and two individuals (one male and one female) respectively.

Figures

FIG. 33. Photographs of A, an adult Lasiurus ega captured at El Chino Village and B, two individuals of L. ega roosting under a palm-frond roof thatch at El Chino Village. Photographs by Brock Fenton.