Hipposideros cf. ruber (Noack, 1893)

Decher, Jan, Hoffmann, Anke, Schaer, Juliane, N Orris, Ryan W., Kadjo, Blaise, Astrin, Jonas, Monadjem, Ara & Hutterer, Rainer, 2015, Bat diversity in the Simandou Mountain Range of Guinea, with the description of a new white-winged vespertilionid, Acta Chiropterologica 17 (2), pp. 255-282 : 265-266

Hipposideros cf. ruber (Noack, 1893)

New material

ZFMK 2008.0289 , ♂ W1, 25 February 2008 ; ZFMK 2008.0288 , ♂, FC, 9 March 2008, ZFMK 2008.0290 , ♀, TO, 14 March 2008 ; ZFMK 2009 . 0027, ♀, PF, 9 March 2008 ; ZFMK 2009.0028 , ♀, WSV, 13 December 2008 .

Hipposideros ruber has been shown to represent a species complex with at least three species occurring in West Africa ( Vallo et al., 2008, 2011), of which two co-occur syntopically on Mount Nimba ( Monadjem et al., 2013 a), but these taxa have yet to be named. Hence, we provisionally include all Simandou records previously named H. caffer and H. ruber in H. cf. ruber .

Twelve individuals of this bat were captured, three in the ravine forest at W1, one each in the canopy net over creeks in closed evergreen forest at FC and TO, one in the rocky submontane forest at PF, and six in the canopy net over the creek in the WSV. During the 2002 RAP, two individuals were caught in a harp trap at W2 and eight at BK (Fahr and Ebigbo, 2004). During the 2003 RAP, one individual each was recorded from the Diécké and Mt. Béro Forest Reserves ( Fahr et al., 2006). Weber and Fahr (2007 b) reviewed records from numerous localities in the Fouta Djallon Region of Guinea and pointed out that several older specimens from the region identified as H. fuliginosus and H. caffer spp. belonged to H. ruber complex. An earlier specimen (ZFMK 1959.0183) labelled H. ruber guineensis collected by H. Knorr in a cave at the base of Kelesi Mountain, Tahiré (Kindia), Guinea, matches our series in external measurements. Hipposideros cf. ruber was also reported from the Parc National du Haute Niger (ZFMK 1997.0441–0443; Ziegler et al., 2002) and from Kinadou and Sérédou in the Ziama Forest of Guinea ( Roche, 1971; Bützler, 1994). In Côte d’Ivoire, Fahr (1996) found about 70% of H. cf. ruber occurring in the rainforest zone and 30% in the forest-savannah mosaic and savannah formations. At Liberian Mount Nimba, this species roosted at 500–700 m elevation using “disused mine tunnels, large mammal holes and caves (usually near water)”; there was some indication that females and their young roost apart from males ( Wolton et al., 1982: 444). At Guinean Mount Nimba, Denys et al. (2013) reported six captures from a range of elevations. We found the large ectoparasitic bat fly, Penicillida allisoni Theodor, 1968 ( Nycteribiidae ), on the heads and necks of this species; this fly was previously recorded from H. cf. ruber at Mount Nimba ( Wolton et al., 1982).

Conservation status

Least Concern. This species is widespread in West and Central Africa. Population trend is unknown ( IUCN, 2015).