Micronycteris hirsuta (Peters)

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 : 69

Micronycteris hirsuta (Peters)

VOUCHER MATERIAL: 3 females (AMNH *267857, *267858; MNHN *1995.800) and 6 males (AMNH *267093, *267894, *267096, 267860; MNHN *1995.801, 1995.802); see table 24 for measurements.

IDENTIFICATION: Micronycteris hirsuta is easy to identify owing to its large size (see Simmons [1996b] and tables 23–25) and uniquely high­crowned lower incisors (figured by Genoways and Williams, 1986). Descriptions and comparative measurements of M. hirsuta from the Guianas and elsewhere were provided by Sanborn (1949), Goodwin and Greenhall (1961), Hill (1964), Davis (1976a), Genoways and Williams (1986), Brosset and Charles­Dominique (1990), and Simmons (1996b). No subspecies are currently recognized (Simmons, 1996b).

Our specimens of Micronycteris hirsuta conform in all respects to previous descriptions of the species.

FIELD OBSERVATIONS: We captured nine individuals of Micronycteris hirsuta at Paracou, three of which were taken in groundlevel mistnets (two in well­drained primary forest and one in swampy primary forest), and the other six at roosts. The two roosts we found were similar: both were hollow trees near streams in primary forest, both trees had sloping trunks, and the central cavity of each tree had a lower entrance 1–2 m above the ground and another smaller aperture several meters higher up the trunk. From one tree (fig. 21) we collected an adult male and an adult female (probably not the entire roosting group); from the other (fig. 29) we collected two adult males, one adult female, and one subadult male (possibly the entire roosting group). The floor of the latter roost was littered with the wings of large orthopterans, presumably the remains of prey car­ ried back to the roost and eaten by the inhabitants.