Micronycteris hirsuta

Taxonomy

Assessment Information

Geographic Range

Population

Habitat and Ecology

Threats

Conservation Actions

Bibliography

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom	Phylum	Class	Order	Family
ANIMALIA	CHORDATA	MAMMALIA	CHIROPTERA	PHYLLOSTOMIDAE

Scientific Name:

Micronycteris hirsuta

Species Authority:

(Peters, 1869)

Common Name/s:

English

–

Hairy Big-eared Bat

Taxonomic Notes:

Placed in subgenus Xenoctenes.

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria:	Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published:	2008
Assessor/s:	Sampaio, E., Lim, B., Peters, S., Miller, B., Cuarón, A.D. & de Grammont, P.C.
Reviewer/s:	Medellín, R. (Chiroptera Red List Authority) & Schipper, J. (Global Mammal Assessment Team)
Contributor/s:
Justification: Listed as Least Concern because it is widely distributed, unlikely to be declining at a rate which qualifies it for inclusion in any threat category.

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description:	This species ranges from eastern Honduras south through the Central America to Amazonian Peru and Brazil; also along Atlantic Coast to Espirito Santo, Brazil (Peracchi and Albuquerque, 1993); also Trinidad. It prefers lower elevations, below 1,500 m (Reid, 1997). Also Ecuador.
Countries:	Native: Brazil; Colombia; Costa Rica; Ecuador; French Guiana; Guyana; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama; Peru; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Venezuela
Range Map:	Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population:	Apparently rare (Reid 1997) and with a scattered distribution. Locally common in Costa Rica and Nicaragua (Rodriguez-Herrera, Pineda and Medina pers. comm.)
Population Trend:	Unknown

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology:	The species is associated with primary forest. Its activity is concentrated near streams or moist areas (Eisenberg, 1989). It roosts in hollow trees, buildings, and under bridges and feeds on insects, mainly katydids, cockroaches, June beetles, and Lepidoptera larvae, which are gleaned from vegetation. Fruit is taken during the dry season only (Whitaker and Findley, 1980; Wilson, 1971). This bat is attracted to katydid calls and is much more likely to be caught in mist nets baited nets (where it is seldom captured). Equal numbers of male and female (noncalling) katydid remains have been found at roosts, indicating that the bats can find prey using cues other than male songs.
Systems:	Terrestrial

Habitat and Ecology:

The species is associated with primary forest. Its activity is concentrated near streams or moist areas (Eisenberg, 1989). It roosts in hollow trees, buildings, and under bridges and feeds on insects, mainly katydids, cockroaches, June beetles, and Lepidoptera larvae, which are gleaned from vegetation. Fruit is taken during the dry season only (Whitaker and Findley, 1980; Wilson, 1971). This bat is attracted to katydid calls and is much more likely to be caught in mist nets baited nets (where it is seldom captured). Equal numbers of male and female (noncalling) katydid remains have been found at roosts, indicating that the bats can find prey using cues other than male songs.

Systems:

Terrestrial

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s):	Deforestation, although this is not considered as a major threat.

Major Threat(s):

Deforestation, although this is not considered as a major threat.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions:	Reduce habitat loss. The species occurs in a number of protected areas throughout its range.

Conservation Actions:

Reduce habitat loss. The species occurs in a number of protected areas throughout its range.

Bibliography [top]

	Eisenberg, J. F. 1989. Mammals of the Neotropics. The Northern Neotropics. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA and London, UK. Perracchi, A. L. and Albuquerque S. T. 1993. Quiropteros do Municipio de Linhares, Estado do Espirito Santo, Brasil (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Revista Brasileira de Biologia 53: 575-581. Reid, F. 1997. A field guide to the mammals of Central America and southeast Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York, USA. Whitaker Jr., J. O. and Findley, J. S. 1980. Foods eaten by some bats from Costa Rica and Panama. Journal of Mammalogy 61: 540-543. Wilson, D. E. 1971. Food habits of Micronycteris hirsuta (Chiropytera: Phillostomidae). Mammalia 35(1): 107-110.

Eisenberg, J. F. 1989. Mammals of the Neotropics. The Northern Neotropics. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, USA and London, UK.

Perracchi, A. L. and Albuquerque S. T. 1993. Quiropteros do Municipio de Linhares, Estado do Espirito Santo, Brasil (Mammalia, Chiroptera). Revista Brasileira de Biologia 53: 575-581.

Reid, F. 1997. A field guide to the mammals of Central America and southeast Mexico. Oxford University Press, New York, USA.

Whitaker Jr., J. O. and Findley, J. S. 1980. Foods eaten by some bats from Costa Rica and Panama. Journal of Mammalogy 61: 540-543.

Wilson, D. E. 1971. Food habits of Micronycteris hirsuta (Chiropytera: Phillostomidae). Mammalia 35(1): 107-110.

Citation:	Sampaio, E., Lim, B., Peters, S., Miller, B., Cuarón, A.D. & de Grammont, P.C. 2008. Micronycteris hirsuta. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 22 May 2013.
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