83.

Cadena’s Nectar Bat

Hsunycteris cadenai

French: Lonchophylle de Cadena / German: Cadena-Nektarfledermaus / Spanish: Sunicterio de Cadena

Other common names: Cadena’s Small Nectar Bat

Taxonomy. Lonchophylla cadena Woodman & Timm, 2006,

“Twenty-nine km SE of Buenaventura, 75 m elevation; east bank of Rio Zabaletas, across from the village of Zabaletas (3°44’ N, 76°57' W); Valle del Cauca Department; Colombia.”

Molecular and morphological analyses have recovered Lonchophylla (sensu lato) as a paraphyletic assemblage. Combining evidence from nuclear and mitochondrial genes, karyotypes, and skull morphology, J. A. Parlos and collaborators in 2014 also retrieved Lonchophylla as paraphyletic. Based on these findings, they described Hsunycteris and included three named species (L. thomasi, L. cadenai, and L. pattoni) and one unnamed species. P. M. Velazco and collaborators in 2017 described H. dashe from north-eastern Peru; it was previously confused with Lionycteris spurrelli. Monotypic.

Distribution. Trans-Andean, known from a few localities in W Colombia (Risaralda and Valle del Cauca departments) and NW Ecuador (Esmeraldas Province).

Descriptive notes. Head-body 52-58 mm, tail 7-10 mm, ear 14-15 mm, hindfoot 8-10 mm, forearm 31-32-7 mm; weight 7 g. Cadena’s Nectar Bat is among the smaller species in the subfamily Lonchophyllinae. Dorsal hairs are typically 4-7 mm, bicolored with paler light ocherous buff to ocherous tawny bases (c.60% of length) and darker tips from dark brown on lower back to cinnamon-brown near head; ventral hairs are buckthorn brown to cinnamon-brown, typically unicolored on abdomen but having darker tips near chest. Muzzle is elongated, with lowerjaw extending slightly beyond upperjaw. Weakly developed central rib of noseleaf extends to tip. Ears and wing membranes are blackish brown, and wings attach to ankles. Forearms are naked. Tail membraneis only sparsely haired. Similar to other nectarfeeding bats, rostrum is narrow but only slightly shorter than braincase. In dorsal view of skull, rostrum is short, moderately broad, and inflated above M'; lateral margins are convex; postorbital region is strongly inflated, typically with small lateral projections; and posterior margin of infraorbital foramen typically projects beyond lateral outline of rostrum. I' is more than double size of I’. In palatal view, gaps are obvious between I' and I?, and P* has conspicuous rooted lingual cusp. Dental formula for all species of Hsunycterisis12/2,C1/1,P2/3,M 3/3 (x2) = 34. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 36 and FN = 50, with multiple acrocentric autosomes.

Habitat. Pre-montane rainforests of Pacific coastal plain at elevations below 200 m (most records) but also up to ¢. 2400 m. Cadena’s Nectar Bat seems to prefer primary and secondary rainforests but is also found in clearings, gardens, and banana plantations. A single record comes from Andean montane forests on eastern slope of Western Andes Range. Many individuals have been caught in ground-level (0-3 m) mist nets, indicating preference to fly in low forest strata.

Food and Feeding. Cadena’s Nectar Batis primarily nectarivorous but also eats pollen, insects, and banana flowers.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. No information.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List (as Lonchophylla cadenai). Available information is inadequate to make reliable assessments of conservation risks to Cadena’s Nectar Bat.

Bibliography. Baker et al. (1982), Carrera et al. (2010), Davalos & Jansa (2004), Griffiths & Gardner (2008b), Parlos et al. (2014), Ribeiro et al. (2003), Velazco et al. (2017), Woodman & Timm (2006).