Rhinolophus pusillus Temminck, 1834

Zhang, Libiao, Jones, Gareth, Zhang, Jinshuo, Zhu, Guangjian & Parsons, Stuart, 2009, Recent surveys of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) from China. I. Rhinolophidae and Hipposideridae, Acta Chiropterologica 11 (1), pp. 71-88 : 79-80

Rhinolophus pusillus Temminck, 1834

Least horseshoe bat

This is a common bat species in China. FA — 34.3–41.6 mm, mass — 3.3–7.8 g, FMAXE — 100.3–111.2 kHz. Capture sites included Beijing, Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Shandong, Sichuan and Yunnan. Among these sites, bats from Beijing were larger than others (FA 40.2–41.6 mm) and had a lower call frequency, ranging 105.2–109.7 kHz. For example, some R. pusillus from Guangxi called at a higher frequency (111.2 kHz) and are smaller (FA 35.2–37.9 mm). Robinson (1996) reported that R. pusillus in Malaysia calls at 92.5 kHz (FA 38.3 mm), and so it appears likely that cryptic species divisions are likely in this taxon across its range. Li et al. (2006) suggested that bat taxa R. pusillus (sampled across China), R. monoceros (Taiwan) , R. cornutus (main islands of Japan) and R. c. pumilus (Okinawa, Japan) are better considered as geographical subspecies rather than distinct species. Simmons (2005) considers that R. cornutus is confined to Japan and, therefore, bats from China that were previously assigned to this taxon are now considered to belong to R. pusillus .

Previous records from China: Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hainan, Hebei, Hunan,

Jiangsu, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan and Zhejiang ( Zhang, 1997; Wang, 2003).

Ecological Notes

This is the most widespread and frequently encountered rhinolophid in China. It is rarely found in large numbers, and all records were from caves or once from a rock crevice. Five droppings collected in July 2002 from Beijing were analysed and found to contain (average percentage volume) 45% dipterans, 42% lepidopterans and 14% coleopterans. The diet is therefore similar to that of R. hipposideros in Europe ( Vaughan, 1997), which it resembles closely in morphology seemingly as a consequence of convergent evolution ( Li et al., 2006). Pregnant females were captured on 17 May, lactating females on 12 June 2005, in Guangxi.