Part 4

An adult male (testes 6 mm) yellow-shouldered bat from Darailí, 5 km N and 14 km E Condega, 940 m, in Madriz, provides the only specimen thus far reported from Nicaragua. Sturnira ludovici evidently is relatively rare in Nicaragua and may be confined to the highlands in the north, whereas the smaller S. lilium is abundant throughout the country and is the only other species of Sturnira represented in our collections.

We provisionally refer our specimen to S. l. ludovici pending Luis de la Torre's forthcoming review of the genus. Selected measurements are: total length, 77 mm; length of hind foot, 15 mm; length of ear, 19 mm; length of forearm, 44.8 mm; weight, 26.8 gms; greatest length of skull, 24.2 mm; zygomatic breadth, 14.2 mm; postorbital breadth, 6.3 mm; breadth of braincase, 10.5 mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 6.8 mm.

Uroderma magnirostrum Davis, 1968

In the original description of U. magnirostrum, Davis (1968:680) reported one specimen from Nicaragua--a female in our collection from 3 km N and 4 km W Sapoá, 40 m, Rivas. We have two additional specimens, both from the relatively dry northwestern Departamento de Chinandega. On 8 July 1966, a male (testes 2 mm) was netted under trees along a small stream at San Antonio, 35 m, and a female (one embryo 28 mm in crown-rump length) was netted on 4 March 1968 over a warm spring at a place 4.5 km N Cosigüina, 15 m. Judging from published records, this species is limited in Middle America to the Pacific versant.

Selected measurements of the three Nicaraguan specimens are, respectively: total length, 65, 64, 67 mm; length of hind foot, 12, 11, 14 mm; length of ear, 16.5, 16, 18 mm; length of forearm, 42.2, 41.7, 45.2 mm; weight, 16.2, 13.8, 21.4 (pregnant) gms; greatest length of skull, 22.7, 23.4, 23.8 mm; zygomatic breadth, 12.4, 12.9, 13.1 mm; postorbital breadth, 5.8, 5.5, 5.9 mm; mastoid breadth, 10.9, 11.1, 11.1 mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 7.9, 8.1, 8.6 mm.

Vampyrops helleri Peters, 1866

Specimens.--Boaco: Santa Rosa, 17 km N, 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, 3. Carazo: 3 km N, 4 km W Diriamba, 600 m, 2. Chinandega: Potosí, 5 m, 1; 6.5 km N, 1 km E Cosigüina, 10 m, 1; 4.5 km N Cosigüina, 15 m, 3; Hda. Bellavista, 720 m, Volcán Casita, 13. Chontales: 1 km N, 2.5 km W Villa Somoza, 330 m, 4. Granada: Finca Santa Cecilia, 6.5 km SE Guanacaste, 660 m, 4. Matagalpa: Finca Tepeyac, 10.5 km N, 9 km E Matagalpa, 960 m, 1. Nueva Segovia: 4.5 km N, 2 km E Jalapa, 680 m, 2; 1.5 km N, 1 km E Jalapa, 660 m, 2. Rivas: 2 km N, 3 km E Mérida, 200 m, Isla de Ometepe, 4; 4 km N, 4 km W Sapoá, 40 m, 1. Zelaya: S side Río Mico, El Recreo, 25 m, 3.

Only two specimens of this small white-lined species have been reported previously from Nicaragua--one from 1 km NW La Gatiada, 1300 ft, Chontales (Davis et al., 1964:383), and the other from 3 mi NNW Diriamba, Carazo (Jones, 1964a:507). This bat was relatively rare in collections until the last decade or so. Handley (1966b:766) reported V. helleri as abundant in the lowland areas of Panamá, and we found the same to be true in Nicaragua. We suspect that future investigations in Middle America will reveal this species to be a common member of lowland tropical communities. It is known as far north as southern Veracruz (Carter et al., 1966:494).

Most of our specimens were captured in mist nets set over small streams bordered by gallery forest, or in banana groves. The range of ecological conditions in which this species was taken is represented by the semiarid environment of the Cosigüina Peninsula in northwestern Nicaragua and the humid tropical forest (secondary growth) in the vicinity of El Recreo in the Caribbean lowlands. Pregnant females were captured in March, April, June, July, and August, indicating that this species probably breeds throughout much of the year.

Vampyrodes major G. M. Allen, 1908

Specimens.--Boaco: Santa Rosa, 17 km N, 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, 8. Chontales: 1 km N, 2.5 km W Villa Somoza, 330 m, 2. Zelaya: S side Río Mico, 25 m, 6.

This large white-lined stenodermine was known previously from Nicaragua by a single specimen from an unknown locality (J. A. Allen, 1910:112). All of our specimens were caught in mist nets, which were set over streams at Santa Rosa and near Villa Somoza, and in a banana grove at El Recreo. Two pregnant females, captured on 11 and 13 July at Santa Rosa, each carried an embryo (4 and 27 mm in crown-rump length, respectively); one of two other adult females captured there on 9 August also had an embryo (35 mm in length) but the other evidently was reproductively quiescent. Testes of adult males varied in length from 3 to 10 mm on the following dates (testicular lengths in parentheses): 25 February (10 mm); 21 March (8, 8 mm); 17 June (3, 4 mm); 13 July (6 mm); 27-28 July (4, 4 mm); 3 August (4 mm); 5 August (3 mm); 9 August (4 mm).

We follow Starrett and Casebeer (1968:12) in the use of the specific name major, rather than caraccioli as suggested by Cabrera (1958), Goodwin and Greenhall (1961), and Handley (1966b).

Vampyressa nymphaea Thomas, 1909

A pregnant female (crown-rump length of embryo 5 mm) was captured in a mist net set in a small banana grove on the south side of the Río Mico, El Recreo, 25 m, in the Caribbean lowlands, on 27 February 1968. This specimen provides the first record of the big yellow-eared bat from Nicaragua. The species was recently reported for the first time from Costa Rica (Gardner et al., 1970:721); it was characterized as uncommon in Panamá by Handley (1966b:767). The one Costa Rican locality of record also is in the Caribbean versant.

Selected external and cranial measurements of our female are: total length, 58 mm; length of hind foot, 11 mm; length of ear, 16 mm; length of forearm, 36.2 mm; weight, 12.3 gms; greatest length of skull, 21.1 mm; condylobasal length, 18.4 mm; zygomatic breadth, 12.3 mm; mastoid breadth, 10.5 mm; breadth across canines, 4.6 mm; breadth of braincase, 9.4 mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 7.2 mm; length of mandibular c-m3, 7.8 mm.

Vampyressa pusilla thyone Thomas, 1909

Specimens.--Boaco: Santa Rosa, 17 km N, 15 km E Boaco, 300 m, 5. Chontales: 1 km N, 2.5 km W Villa Somoza, 330 m, 1. Managua: Hda. San José, 2. Matagalpa: 2 km N, 6 km E Esquipulas, 960 m, 2.

The only previous record of occurrence for the small yellow-eared bat from Nicaragua is based on an adult female from Hda. La Cumplida, 670 m, Matagalpa (Starrett and de la Torre, 1964:60).

Two individuals taken near Esquipulas in mid-March, a pregnant female (crown-rump length of embryo 16 mm) and a male (testes 4 mm), were captured in nets set across trails cut through secondary forest. The wind was quite strong in this area at the time of our visit and only a few other species of bats--Glossophaga soricina, Artibeus jamaicensis, A. toltecus, A. phaeotis, Uroderma bilobatum, Sturnira lilium, Centurio senex, and Diphylla ecaudata--were taken in the same nets. The specimens from Boaco and Chontales were captured over small streams bordered by gallery forest. Four females collected at Santa Rosa on 21 March were pregnant; each carried a single embryo that measured 5, 18, 21, and 30 mm in crown-rump length; a male taken on the same date had testes that measured 3 mm.

Selected external and cranial measurements of two males, followed by the average (extremes in parentheses) of six females are: length of forearm, 31.1, 30.8, 30.8 (30.0-31.4) mm; greatest length of skull, 18.9, 18.9, 18.5 (18.1-18.8) mm; zygomatic breadth, 11.0, 11.0, 10.6 (10.4-10.9) mm; mastoid breadth, 9.5, 9.2, 9.2 (9.0-9.3) mm; length of maxillary toothrow, 6.1, 5.9, 5.9 (5.7-6.1) mm.

Chiroderma villosum jesupi J. A. Allen, 1900

Specimens.--Chinandega: 6.5 km N, 1 km E Cosigüina, 10 m, 2; 4.5 km N Cosigüina, 15 m, 7; Hda. Bellavista, 720 m, Volcán Casita, 5; San Antonio, 35 m, 2. Rivas: 2 km N, 3 km E Mérida, 200 m, Isla de Ometepe, 1.

This species has been reported in Middle America from as far north as southern México. It evidently is uncommon in Costa Rica (see Gardner et al., 1970:722) and Panamá (Handley, 1966b:767). Our material, all collected from mist nets and consisting of 16 specimens from the northwestern department of Chinandega and one from Isla de Ometepe in Lago de Nicaragua, constitutes the first report of this bat from Nicaragua.

Four of five females taken in early March were pregnant; embryos averaged 26.0 (25-29) mm in crown-rump length. Four females taken in July carried embryos 14, 20, 23, and 25 mm in length. Testes of five adult males captured in March and April had an average length of 4.4 (3-7) mm, whereas those of two taken in July were 3 mm in length.

Artibeus toltecus hesperus Davis, 1969

When Davis (1969) named A. t. hesperus, he assigned specimens only from as far south as El Salvador to the new subspecies, referring the three Nicaraguan examples of the species at his disposal to the nominal race. On the night of 6-7 April 1968, one of us (Smith) netted bats on the south part of Isla de Ometepe at a place 2 km N and 3 km E Mérida, 200 meters in elevation. One net was set across, and another parallel to, a small, boulder-strewn stream; the surrounding area was planted to coffee and had a good canopy of tall deciduous trees. Among the bats captured at this location were 10 A. toltecus that are referable to the subspecies hesperus, judging by their small size (Table 2).

Six of our specimens are females and each carried an embryo (range in crown-rump length 20-28 mm). Three adult males had testes 5, 6, and 7 mm in length. External measurements (extremes in parentheses) of our series are: total length, 55.9 (51-60) mm; length of hind foot, 10.7 (10-12) mm; length of ear, 14.8 (14-16) mm; weight of four males, 9.9 (8.8-11.5) gms; weight of six pregnant females, 14.9 (12.7-16.9) gms.