Plecotus ognevi Kishida 1927

Plecotus cf. ognevi Kishida, 1927 —Ognev’s Long-eared Bat

Plecotus auritus ognevi Kishida, 1927a p.418; Type locality- Sakhalin, Russia; Won, 1958 p.458; Won, 1967 p.346; Won, 1968 p.103; Yoon, 1992 p.411.

P. auritus: Won, 1968 p.102; Han, 1994 p.45; Won & Smith, 1999 p.14; Son, 2001 p.121; Yoon, 2004 p.66; Yoon, 2010 p.81.

P. auritus uenoi Imaizumi and Yoshiyuki, 1969 p.262; Type locality- Gangwon Province, Korea; Corbet, 1978 p.61; Yoon, 1992 p.42; Yoon, 2010 p.82.

Range: These rare bats occur in southern Korea below 37° N and mostly inhabit limestone strata in Gangwon Province (NIBR 2015; Fig. 21). One record exists from Ulleung Island (130 km from east coast of the Korean Peninsula) in the East Sea (Won 1967).

Remarks: This species was regarded as a subspecies of P. auritus (Simmons 2005). Asian populations were also identified as separate species, P. ognevi in continental Asia and P. sacrimontis in Japan (Spitzenberger et al. 2006; Stubbe et al. 2008). Mitochondrial DNA analyses confirmed a deep phylogeographic split between P. auritus and P. ognevi (Datzmann et al. 2012; Kruskop et al. 2012). In Korea, two Subspecies P. a. ognevi in the north and P. a. uenoi in the south were reported, but the geographical separation between the two species remains uncertain (Won & Smith 1999). Won (1967) stated that populations from Korea were closer to P. ognevi than P. sacrimontis. Thus, we assigned the name Plecotus cf. ognevi to the long-eared bat present in Korea. Further investigations are needed to assess the status of this bat in Korea.

Conservation status: Although IUCN regarded this species (P. ognevi) as ‘Least Concern’, the South Korean Government considered the species (P. auritus) ‘Vulnerable’ (NIBR 2012). The Ministry of Environment designated Plecotus auritus in South Korea an endangered species in 2005. Loss of broad-leaved forest, mainly mature trees, is the main threat. The species is affected locally by remedial timber treatment and loss of roost sites.