Long-eared bats of Plecotus genus in Luhansk region

S Rebrov

doi:10.30970/sbi.0802.360

Abstract

The bats fauna of Luhansk region is poorly studied. Plecotus auritus is the only species expected to be found on the East of Ukraine, according to last revision of variability and biogeography of this genus in Ukraine. The aim of this study was to expand the information about the brown long-eared bats in Luhansk region, to consider the prevalence, typical habitats and analyze morphometric peculiarities of the species. It was confirmed that for Luhansk region only one species of Plecotus genus is known: all specimens investigated were identified as P. auritus species by the morphological characteristics . In general, the investigated sample includes 35 specimens. The females are 2.7 % bigger than the males in terms of the morphometric characters. Further study defined the details of species’ distribution in the region; a cadastre of known records is ordered and includes 9 localities. Two colonies of P. auritus were found in the region: one of the natural and the other in anthropogenic landscape. All characteristics (age and sex structure, presence of colonies, different locations) indicate the presence of a stable local population of the Brown long-eared bats in Luhansk region. Keywords: long-eared bat, Plecotus , morphological peculiarities, state of population, Luhansk region.

Highlights

It is well-known that both P. auritus and P. austriacus are widely sympatric species in Ukraine [17]
It was only at the beginning of the 21st century that genus Plecotus was described as two different species in Ukraine [15]
P. auritus is the species which was expected to be found on the East of Ukraine, according to the maps presented in the Guide for field investigations of bats in Ukraine [15] as well as last revision of variability and biogeography of this genus in Ukraine [17]

Summary

Introduction

It is well-known that both P. auritus and P. austriacus are widely sympatric species in Ukraine [17]. The problem of heterogeneity of the eastern populations of long-eared bats was first addressed in the late 1980s [12]. It was only at the beginning of the 21st century that genus Plecotus was described as two different species in Ukraine [15]. The first mention of Plecotus genus for the region was given without species identification in 1973 [6]. The first case of reliable identification of Plecotus in Luhansk region concerns two specimens of P. auritus, captured with mistnets in the vicinity of Luhansk in 2008 [18]

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