Pipistrellus javanicus

Pipistrellus javanicus

Javan Pipistrelle

Scotophilus javanicus Gray, 1838: 498; Java Pipistrellus peguensis Sinha, 1969: 83; Pegu, Burma

New material from Myanmar

Bago Division: Bago township, August, 2002, 10 ♂♂ (B50–51, 55–56, 84, 91, 110, 120–121, W1-2); Yangon Division: Thone Kwa, -.10.2003, 2 ♂♂ (TK1, TK2); Mon State: Kyaik-Kha-Mi, 13.03.2001, 1 ♂ (K24).

Previous records from Myanmar

Kachin State: Dalu (Carter, 1943); Rakhine State: Bout-thi-su Quarter [Sittway] (Pearch et al., 2003); Bago Division: Bago (= Pegu, type locality of peguensis, Sinha, 1969); Tanintharyi Division: Myeik ([Mer- gui] = P. coromandra in Lindsay, 1926 but subsequently referred to P. peguensis by Sinha, 1994).

Descriptive characters

A medium-sized pipistrelle with a fore- arm length of 29.3–32.0 mm based on 13 specimens from Myanmar (Table 4; FA = 30.0–36.0 mm in Bates and Harrison, 1997 and 32.3–36.2 mm in Hendrichsen et al., 2001). The pelage is unremarkable, rang- ing from chestnut to darker brown, with a frosting of some paler brown hairs on the back. It is buffy brown on the ventral surface but with the hair roots almost black. The fifth metacarpal is about equal in length to the third and fourth. The baculum, which measures 5.1–5.8 mm has a bilobate base, a thin shaft and a bifid tip (Fig. 2B). The skull, with a condylo-canine length of 11.6–12.3 mm is relatively large for Pipistrellus. The zygomata are thin and without processes. The second upper incisor (I3) is about equal to the first (I2) in crown area and attains the height of the secondary cusp. The upper canine (C1) usually has a secondary cusp. The first upper premolar (P2) is about equal in crown area to I2 and is intruded from the toothrow. The second lower premolar (P4) slightly exceeds the first (P2) in crown area and is about two- thirds the height.

Similar species

The penis, with a length in excess of 6 mm, and the baculum of P. javanicus ex- ceed in length those of all other local pip- istrelles except P. paterculus and P. abra- mus, which are significantly longer. Unlike the skull of P. cadornae, which is similar in size to that of P. javanicus, the first upper premolar (P2) is small but not minute.

Taxonomic notes

Pipistrellus peguensis, Sinha, 1969 was described from Myanmar with a further population recorded from Darjeeling in north-east India (Sinha, 1990). In the origi- nal description, the holotype and five para- types of P. peguensi s were compared with P. coromandra and P. abramus but not with P. javanicus. Although Koopman (1993) considered it to be specifically distinct, Corbet and Hill (1992) included peguensi s as a synonym of P. javanicus. In this study, the skull, dental and bacular morphology of a series of specimens from Bago, the type locality of P. peguensis, were compared with specimens from elsewhere in the range of P. javanicus, including the Indian Sub- continent (Bates and Harrison, 1997). The two taxa appear to be morphologically in- distinguishable. The Myanmar specimens average slightly smaller in external and cra- nial measurements. However, there is a con- siderable overlap in the ranges. Pipistrellus peguensis is therefore included as a syno- nym of P. javanicus.

Ecology

In Myanmar, this species is closely as- sociated with man and has been found in the townships of Bago, Yangon and Sittway. The specimen from Kyaik-Kha-Mi in Mon State was collected from a small colony that was located behind the wooden boards of the wall of a monastery. The monastery was on stilts and suspended above the sea on the south-western extremity of the old town. The adjacent habitat is very disturbed with

open ground covered in grass, houses, and gardens, including fruit trees and palms. Outside the town, much of the land is given over to rubber plantations. Previous specimens from Dalu in Kachin State were collected at an altitude of 193 m (626 feet) in paddy fields bordered by dense forest (Carter, 1943). Three specimens, 2 ♂♂ and 1 ♀ were collected from Myeik (= Mergui) in September and October, 1921 (= P. coro- mandra in Lindsay, 1926).