V. sinensis

Family: Vespertilionidae

Scientific name: Vespertilio sinensis

Common name: Asian parti-colored bat

IUCN status: Least Concern (LC)

MSJ Red list status: R

General morphology: Color variation among individuals is remarkable. Dorsal hairs are reddish-brown or blackish brown with whitish tips; ears are thick; tragus is short; wings are rather narrow (Yoshiyuki, 1989).

Diet: Mainly feeds on Coleoptera, Lepidoptera, and Diptera (Fukui & Agetsuma, 2010).

Habitat: Roosts in tree cavities (Mukohyama, 1996), buildings (Mukohyama, 1987), slits under elevated bridges (Kasahi et al., 2013), caves (Sawada,1994), tunnels and rock crevices (Wallin, 1962).

Echolocation calls: Long duration; QCF call structure; FMaxE=24.2 kHz (Hokkaido) (Fukui et al., 2004), FMaxE=24.5 kHz (Fukuoka Prefecture) (Funakoshi, 2010)

Refrences:

Wallin, L. (1962). Notes on Vespertilio namiyei (Chiroptera). Zoologiska Bidrag från Uppsala, 35, 397–416

Mukohyama, M. (1987). Biology of bats in Aomori-ken 1. Conformation of breeding. Journal of Aomori-ken Biological Society, 23, 31-34.

Yoshiyuki, M. (1989). A systematic study of the Japanese Chiroptera. 242pp. National Science Museum: Tokyo.

Sawada, I. (1994). A list of caves of bat habitation in Japan. Journal of the Natural History of Japan, 2, 53-80.

Mukohyama, M. (1996). Notes on breeding colonies of Vespertilio superans Thomas, 1899, in Aomori prefecture, Japan. Journal of the Natural History of Aomori, 1, 9-12.

Fukui, D., Agetsuma, N., & Hill, D. A. (2004). Acoustic identification of eight species of bat (Mammalia: Chiroptera) inhabiting forests of southern Hokkaido, Japan: potential for conservation monitoring. Zoological Science, 21(9), 947-955.

Fukui, D., & Agetsuma, N. (2010). Seasonal change in the diet composition of the Asian parti-coloured bat Vespertilio sinensis. Mammal Study, 35(4), 227-233.

Funakoshi, K. (2010). Acoustic identification of thirteen insectivorous bat species from the Kyushu District, Japan. Mammalian Science, 50(2), 165-175.

Kasahi, T., Osawa, Y.,Osawa, K., Mineshita, K., Shimizu, T., & Mukohyama, M. (2013). A newly discovered maternity colony and the winter population of the Asian Parti-colored bat Vespertilio sinensis in the elevated railways of the Joetsu-Shinkansen Gunma Prefecture. Bulletin Gunma Museum Natural History, 17, 131-146.