Pipistrellus coromandra

37.

Indian Pipistrelle

Pipistrellus coromandra

French: Pipistrelle de Coromandel / German: Indien-Zwergfledermaus / Spanish: Pipistrela de Coromandel

Other common names: Coromandel Pipistrelle, Little Indian Bat

Taxonomy. Scotophilus coromandra J. E. Gray, 1838,

Pondicherry, Coromandel Coast, India.

Pipistrellus coromandra is externally identical to P. tenuis (being only larger in size), but the two species are considered distinct based on mtDNA. Populations in the north-western part of the distribution (Afghanistan and Pakistan) are grayer and distinguishable from the rest of the population and might be a separate subspecies (for which unavailable name afghanus has been applied), but additionalstudies are needed to resolve this. Monotypic.

Distribution. NE Afghanistan (Nangarhar Province), N Pakistan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces), India, Sri Lanka, Andaman and NicobarIs, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, S China (S Tibet [= Xizang]), Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Descriptive notes. Head-body 34-49 mm, tail 22-39 mm, ear 7-14 mm, hindfoot 3-8 mm, forearm 25-35 mm; weight 3-4-8-3 g. The Indian Pipistrelle is extremely similar to the Least Pipistrelle (P. tenuis), but the Indian Pipistrelle averages larger for all external and cranial measurements (it is morphologically impossible to distinguish between a small Indian Pipistrelle and a large Least Pipistrelle). Dorsal pelage ranges from chestnut to medium to dark brown (being grayer brown in Afghanistan and Pakistan); ventral pelage is paler, with beige-brown or cinnamon-brown tips and darker bases to hairs. Ears, face, and membranes are medium to dark brown and nearly naked. Ears are narrow and broadly rounded; tragus is more or less the same thickness throughout and narrow, with broadly rounded tip. Uropatagium has few hairs next to body and tail, and extends from calcar to nearly tail tip (only extreme tip is free). Penis is short (less than 8 mm). Baculum (3-8 mm long, one specimen) has straight or slightly sinuous shaft, bifurcated tip, and ventrally deflected basal lobes. Skull is larger than that of the Least Pipistrelle but smaller than that of the Javan Pipistrelle (PF. javanicus); zygomatic arches are thin and lack processes; I? is bicuspid, and I’ is unicuspid and higher than height of second cusp of I?; C! usually has secondary cusp; P* is subequal in crown area to I? and is usually (not always) intruded from tooth row; and lower molars are nyctalodont. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 30 and FN = 56 (India).

Habitat. Primary and secondary montane and lowland forests, some disturbed forests, and highly disturbed agricultural and urban areas at elevations of 100-2000 m.

Food and Feeding. Indian Pipistrelles forage ¢.8-12 m aboveground or over water; along forest edges, creeks, and ravines; over cornfields; and in clearings. They are slow and erratic fliers and forage around cluttered vegetation in India. Stomach contents of some individuals in Bihar, northern India, contained small ants and mouthparts offlies.

Breeding. Female Indian Pipistrelles seem to give birth to 1-2 young (rarely one) at a time and at least three times a year, with records in April, July-August, and October— November in Bihar. Females with two suckling young were captured in April, July, and August in Bihar. Pregnant females were captured in July in the same region, and a volantjuvenile with milk in its gut was captured in May.

Activity patterns. Indian Pipistrelles emerge a few minutes before to 16 minutes after sunset and return 5-10 minutes before sunrise. In India, they were recorded feeding for 90 minutes before returning to roosts for short rests of 20-30 minutes before leaving roosts again to feed. They roost in dense vegetation, crevices in walls of mud houses,ceilings, and roofs, and bamboo thatch roofs. One individual in Myanmar was captured outside a cave. Search call is high-intensity FM call and was recorded with maximum energy at ¢.40-42 kHz in Vietnam. In southern India, calls were recorded with maximum frequencies of 115-7-127-6 kHz (average of 122-8 kHz), minimum frequencies of 35-9-43-1 kHz (38-8 kHz), frequencies of maximum energy of 47-3— 56-5 kHz (50-2 kHz), and durations of 1-2-2-1 milliseconds (1-6 milliseconds).

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Indian Pipistrelles roost alone or in groups of 2-25 individuals in India. They occasionally roost with Least Pipistrelles but remain isolated from each other in the same roost.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Least Concern on The IUCNRed List. The Indian Pipistrelle is widespread and common throughoutits distribution and is commonly found in disturbed and urban habitats.

Bibliography. Abramov et al. (2010), Bates & Harrison (1997), Bates et al. (2005), Benda & Gaisler (2015), Cor bet & Hill (1992), Csorba, Bates, Furey, Bumrungsri et al. (2008a), Francis (2008), Hill & Harrison (1987), Kruskop (2013a), Myers, P et al. (2000), Raghuram et al. (2014), Sinha (1984, 1986), Smith & Xie Yan (2008), Sreepada et al. (1996), Srinivasulu et al. (2017), Struebig et al. (2005), Thapa, Subedi et al. (2012).