Phyllostomus discolor Wagner, 1843

Simmons, Nancy B. & Voss, Robert S., 1998, The mammals of Paracou, French Guiana, a Neotropical lowland rainforest fauna. Part 1, Bats, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 237, pp. 1-219 : 84-85

Phyllostomus discolor Wagner

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 10 females (AMNH *267116, *267118, *267120, *267121, *267123, *267124; MNHN *1995.1077, *1995.1078, *1995.1079, *1995.1080) and 5 males (AMNH *267117, *267119, *267984, *267986; MNHN *1995.1081); see table 28 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Useful descriptions and measurements of Phyllostomus discolor may be found in Goodwin and Greenhall (1961), Husson (1962, 1978), Power and Tamsitt (1973), Taddei (1975a), Swanepoel and Genoways (1979), Brosset and Charles­Dominique (1990), and Anderson (1997). Two subspecies are often recognized: P. d. verrucosus (Mexico to northwestern Peru) and P. d. discolor (South America east of the Andes to northwestern Argentina; Margarita Island; Trinidad) (Koopman, 1994). Power and Tamsitt (1973), however, questioned the recognition of these taxa based on comparisons of specimens from near the supposed contact zone in Colombia.

Our Paracou specimens conform closely with previous descriptions of Phyllostomus discolor , and measurements fall within the range of variation previously reported from the Guiana region. Our comparisons of published measurements from throughout the known geographic range of P. discolor suggest that Power and Tamsitt (1973) were correct and that there is no current justification for recognizing subspecies.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: We captured 17 Phyllostomus discolor at Paracou: 14 in ground­level mistnets and 3 in elevated nets. Four of the ground­level captures were in well­drained primary forest, eight were in swampy primary forest, and two were in creekside primary forest. One of the elevated mistnet captures was made at 18–21 m over a narrow dirt road and two were made at 10– 13 m above a treefall gap in creekside primary forest. Several individuals netted in the dry season were covered with pollen. Most bats were caught singly, but two adult males and two adult females (possibly members of a foraging flock) were taken within a 10­minute interval at one mistnetting site in swampy primary forest on 24 October 1992, and an­ other adult female was caught a few hours later at the same place.