Rhinolophus lepidus Blyth, 1844

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 : 76-77

Rhinolophus lepidus Blyth, 1844

Blyth’s horseshoe bat

Rhinolophus osgoodi Sanborn, 1939

Osgood’s horseshoe bat

We consider these taxa together because it is not clear whether or not they are in fact conspecific (Corbet and Hill, 1992; Simmons, 2005). Csorba et al. (2003) consider R. osgoodi as a distinct species on the basis of lancet shape, its short upper canine and long palatal bridge, but recognise that specific distinctness of this taxon has not been accepted widely in the past. Rhinolophus osgoodi has only previously been recorded from one site (Nguluku, north of Likiang) in Yunnan. Osgood (1932) initially considered this taxon to be a subspecies of R. lepidus , and its specific status was introduced by Sanborn (1939) on the basis of its relatively long forearm and small cranial measurements.

One male was captured in Fumin County, Yunnan on 4 November 2005, FA 43 mm, FMAXE 92 kHz. One female (FA 45.4 mm, FMAXE 95.2 kHz) was netted in Dali County, Yunnan Province on 4 September 2003. The Dali bat had a relatively long upper canine more typical of R. lepidus than R. osgoodi (Csorba et al., 2003) , despite being captured close to the type locality for R. osgoodi .

The similarities in forearm length and call frequencies of these bats suggest they may belong to the same taxon. Pottie et al. (2005) reported that R. lepidus in Singapore calls at 97.8 kHz, and had a FA of 39.9 mm, whereas this species in Malaysia calls at around 100 kHz and has a FA that ranges from 37.0– 43.9 mm ( Kingston et al., 2000). More work is warranted to determine if R. osgoodi is distinct from R. lepidus .

Previous records from China ( R. lepidus ): Anhui, Fujian, Guangxi, Guangdong, Guizhou, Hainan, Hunan, Hubei, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Yunnan and Zhejiang ( Zhang, 1997; Wang, 2003). Rhinolophus osgoodi : Yunnan.

Ecological Notes

Seldom encountered and appeared to be rare and not widespread. Records were from caves.