Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3
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Order : CHIROPTERA
Family : Rhinolophidae
Species : Rhinolophus lepidus refulgens
Forearm Length : up to 4.1 cm
Blyth's Horseshoe Bat, or
Glossy Horseshoe Bat, roosts in caves and houses near forest. In semi-urban
areas it is known to have adapted to roost in man-made tunnels and drain
culverts.
This is a small bat
species with two colour phases - one reddish-brown, the other grey. In all
forms the fur is quite glossy, and the underparts are pale.
The noseleaf is elaborate and comprises a typically shaped anterior
horseshoe structure, a pointed bifurcated stella, and a high, pointed
lancet.
On the island of Tioman, which lies off the east coast of Peninsular
Malaysia in the South China Sea, this bat is regularly active by day. It is
postulated that the reduced number of diurnal avian predators on the island
has allowed the species to take advantage of daytime insect prey (Chua &
Aziz, 2018).
Formerly Rhinolophus refulgens (Glossy Horseshoe Bat), was considered
a separate species to Rhinolophus lepidus (Blyth's Horseshoe Bat),
the latter ranging from the Indian Subcontinent and Burma to southern China
and northern Thailand. R. refulgens is now relegated to the
subspecies R. lepidus refulgens, which has a complimentary
geographical range from southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore
to Sumatra.
Fig 1 : Exiting a roost amongst granite boulders.
Fig 2 : A handsome reddish-brown specimen from
Singapore.
Fig 3 : Greyish colour phase, Singapore.
References : M3
Chua, M. A. & Aziz, S.
A. 2018. Into the light: atypical diurnal foraging activity of Blyth’s
horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus lepidus (Chiroptera: Rhinolophidae) on
Tioman Island, Malaysia. Mammalia.
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