Micropteropus pusillus (Peters, 1868)

Mongombe, Aaron Manga, Fils, Eric Moise Bakwo & Tamesse, Joseph Lebel, 2020, Annotated checklist of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Mount Cameroon, southwestern Cameroon, Zoosystema 42 (24), pp. 483-514 : 493-494

Micropteropus pusillus (Peters, 1868)

( Fig. 6 , Table 3 )

Epomophorus pusillus Peters, 1868: 870 .

COMMON NAMES. — English: Peters’ Lesser Epauletted Fruit Bat. French: Rousette naine de Peters

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 79 specimens (including original data).

Mount Cameroon area • 1 specimen; Isobi ; 4°07’15”N, 8°59’33”E; 56 m; 20.II.1958; Martin Eisentraut leg.; ZFMK 1961.0625 • 1 specimen; Buea ; 4°09’00”N, 9°12’00”E; 1050 m; 16.II.1967; Martin Eisentraut leg.; ZFMK 1969.0599 • 11 specimens; Victoria ; 4°00’46”N, 9°13’13”E; 136 m; 20.XII.1968 - 28.II.1973; Martin Eisentraut leg.; ZFMK 1969.0587 to 0589, 0788a, 0788b; ZFMK 1972.0056, 0058a, 0058b, 1973.0374, 0375, 0377 .

Other localities of Cameroon • 9 specimens; Nyasoso ; 4°49’42”N, 9°40’55”E; 1078 m; 9.IV.1954, 16.XI-12.XII.1966; Martin Eisentraut leg.; ZFMK 1969.0590, 0591, 0595 to 0598, 0600; SMNS 5117, 5118 • 1 specimen; Kribi ; 2°57’00”N, 9°55’00”E; 13 m; 7.II. 1973; Martin Eisentraut leg.; ZFMK 1973.0376 .

ORIGINAL DATA. — 57 individuals (26 males and 31 females) were captured during our field surveys in cultivated, cleared and fallow farmland ( Table 1 ). The species was encountered from 20 m up to 1140 m a.s.l in disturbed habitats on Mount Cameroon, and had previously been recorded from Mount Cameroon in cultivated farmlands ( Eisentraut 1963; Fedden & MacLeod 1986).

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — This species is distributed in West, Central and East Afri ca ( Bakwo Fils & Kaleme 2016a). It is an inhabitant of savannah woodlands, but can also be encountered in tropical rainforest, swamp forest, bushland and mosaics of these habitats (Thomas & Henry 2013). At Mount Nimba of West Africa, it was captured both inside and outside forested habitats from 500 m to 1350 m a.s.l. ( Monadjem et al. 2016). Thomas & Henry (2013) also noted that this species prefers secondary to primary forest and is often caught in gardens, and in clearings close to dense undergrowth. They roost singly or in pairs in lower part of trees among dense foliage within few meters of the ground ( Happold 1987).

Figures

FIG. 6. — Micropteropus pusillus (Peters, 1868). Photo: © Aaron Manga Mongombe.