Pipistrellus rueppellii (Fischer, 1826)

Cakenberghe, Victor Van, Tungaluna, Guy-Crispin Gembu, Akawa, Prescott Musaba, Seamark, Ernest & Verheyen, Erik, 2017, The bats of the Congo and of Rwanda and Burundi revisited (Mammalia: Chiroptera), European Journal of Taxonomy 382 (382), pp. 1-327 : 103-104

Pipistrellus rueppellii (Fischer, 1826)

Fig. 47 C–D

Vespertilio Rüppelii J.B. Fischer, 1826: 109 .

* Pipistrellus (Scotozous) rüppelli (Fischer, 1826) .

* Pipistrellus (Scotozous) rüppelli fuscipes (Thomas, 1913) : 315.

Happold (2013 ai: 648) mentions that fuscipes is the subspecies of P. rueppellii occurring from Ethiopia to northern Angola, which would cover the CRB area. Hayman et al. (1966: 55, map 77) report the species from the northeastern part of the DRC (provinces Bas-Uélé, Tshopo, Ituri and Nord-Kivu), as well as from the southeast (Tanganyika and Haut-Katanga Provinces) and southwest parts (Kongo Central, Kasaï and Mai-Ndombe Provinces). The two additional records (RMCA 12247 from Mongbwalu and RMCA 993 from Lukula) were probably overlooked by Hayman et al. (1966), as these specimens were present in the Tervuren collection at the time.

Happold’s (2013 ai: 648) distribution map essentially shows the species following the River Nile southwards, along the great lakes to northern Zimbabwe and central Mozambique, speading in the southern part where it should occur over most of Zambia. Additionally, the species occurs in northern DRC, along the lower Congo River and up the Kasaï River; along the Moroccan-Algerian border crossing into the latter country; and along the Senegalese-Mauritanian border. Furthermore, there are some individual records from Egypt, Ethiopia, eastern Tanzania, Botswana, RSA, Angola, Gabon, Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco. The species seems to be lacking from West Africa, although climatic data used for the SDM map suggest that it might occur in that part of the continent.

Figures

Fig. 47. Distribution maps. A–B. Pipistrellus nanulus Thomas, 1904. C–D. Pipistrellus rueppellii (Fischer, 1826). E–F. Scotoecus albofuscus (Thomas, 1890). A, C, E. Distribution in the CRB area. B, D, F. Pan-African distribution.