Belize Biodiversity Information System

Taxonomy

Species ID	050250
Name	Lesser White-lined bat
Other Common Names
Category	05 Mammals
Phylum
Subphylum
Class	Mammalia
Subclass	Theria
Suborder	Microchiroptera
Family	Emballonuridae
Genus	Saccopteryx
Species	leptura
Subspecies
References	1, 2, 3, 7

Comments

7* No subspecies.

Status

Status Code	Status Translation	References
271	Common: high density, likely to be seen in many places	4

 

Distribution

DISTRICT	References
Stann Creek	14
Toledo	12
Orange Walk	6

Administrative Unit	Occurrence	Abundance	Temporal	References
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary	Collected as voucher.	Unknown, insuffient data	Dry season (Jan-May)	14
Temash-Sarstoon National Park	Recorded vocalization, tape or Anabat.	Unknown, insuffient data	January	11
BFREE - Private Reserve	Recorded vocalization, tape or Anabat.	Unknown, insuffient data	November	11
BFREE - Private Reserve	Recorded vocalization, tape or Anabat.	Unknown, insuffient data	October	11
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary	Captured or Mist netted and released	Unknown, insuffient data	June	12
Columbia River Forest Reserve	Recorded vocalization, tape or Anabat.	Unknown, insuffient data	January	10
Columbia River Forest Reserve	Collected as voucher.	Unknown, insuffient data	March	13
Government land	Recorded vocalization, tape or Anabat.	Unknown, insuffient data	January	9
Columbia River Forest Reserve				5
Rio Bravo Conservation Area	Captured or Mist netted and released		Dry season (Jan-May)	6

Hydrologic Unit Distribution	References
Blue Creek	11
Temash River	11
Bladen Branch	11
North Stann Creek	12
New River	6

ELEVATION Association	References
201-400 m	13
1-200 m	14, 9
601-800 m	10

QUAD Distribution	References
16 00' to 16 15'; 89 00' to 89 15'	11
15 50' to 16 00'; 88 50' to 89 15'	11
16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30'	14, 12
16 15' to 16 30'; 89 00' to 89 15'	10
16 30' to 16 45'; 88 30' to 88 45'	11, 9
17 30' to 17 45'; 88 30' to 88 45'	5
16 15' to 16 30'; 89 00' to 89 15'	13, 6

Holdridge Life Zone Distribution	References
Tropical wet-transition to Subtropical	11
Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical	14,12
Subtropical wet	11, 9
Subtropical Lower Montane moist	10

Comments on Distribution

9* Las Sierritas, Toledo District.
6* 1 allegedly netted at Hillbank, probably S. bilineata.
5* Salamanca Camp
2* not shown for Belize

Graphics

Map of known distribution
Vocal signature
Vocal signature with feeding buzz
Vocal signature with call paramters shown

Habitat Associations

Forest Type Associations	Seral Stage	Canopy Closure	References
Broadleaf hill forests over limestone in steep terrain.	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
Broadleaf Forest Rich in Lime-loving Species	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
Freshwater swamp forest (permanently waterlogged), typical variant.	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
Broadleaf Forest Rich in Lime-loving Species	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
Agriculture, no native vegetation.	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
This serves to update Wright et al. for urban or agricultural areas devoid of native vegetation.	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
Lowland broadleaf rain forests over moderately lime-rich alluvium.	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
Transitional Broadleaf Forest Poor in Lime-loving Species	all stages	Canopy unknown	11
Lowland broadleaf moist evergreen seasonal forests over poor soils.	all stages	Canopy unknown	14,12
Transitional Broadleaf Forest Poor in Lime-loving Species	all stages	Canopy unknown	14,12
Broadleaf hill forests over non-calcareous rocks, Santa Maria variant.	all stages	Canopy unknown	13
Broadleaf Forest with few Lime-loving Species	all stages	Canopy unknown	13
Broadleaf Forest Rich in Lime-loving Species; Ramon-Chiquebul forest.	all stages	Canopy unknown	10
Broadleaf hill forests over limestone in rolling or flat terrain.	all stages	Canopy unknown	10

Food Habits

References on Trophic Level

8

Comments on General Food Habits

8* Nothing is known of specific food habitats of this species. Based on the mass of S. leptura, Bradbury and Vehrencamp (1976a) estimated the mean length of prey items at about 2.6mm. Foraging territories are maintained and actively defended by colonies of S. leptura. Territorial defense mechanisms include aerial chases and vocalizations. The size of foraging territories appears to vary according to location and population density, but has been estimated to range from 0.10 to 1.8 ha/colony. In Trinidad and Costa Rica, S. leptura seems to restrict its foraging activities to forest areas or their margins. Mature lowland and lower montane forests are preferred (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976a). At a site at La Pacifica, Costa Rica, S. leptura foraged only within or at the margins of riparian forests (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976a). Lesser white-lined bats occasionally may forage over streams, but a closed canopy appears to be an essential element of preferred foraging habitat. This species has been found underneath mango (Greenbaum and Jones, 1979) and banana leaves, under a coconut tree frond (Goodwin and Greenhall, 1961), within old ruins, and over roads through tropical woodlands (Polanco et al., 1992). In Costa Rica and Trinidad, S. leptura began foraging at dusk and continued to forage throughout the middle half of the night. In Trinidad, the species sometimes has been observed foraging in the understory during daylight hours (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976a). During the twilight period of the evening, foraging activities have been observed at heights up to 13.5 m, where flight appeared to be concentrated within a small, open area below the lower canopy of an evergreen, seasonal forest (McCarthy, 1987). Where the two species are sympatric, S. leptura may forage slightly earlier in the evening hours than its congener, S. bilineata (McCarthy, 1987).

Life History

Life History Narrative

8* The lesser white-lined bat roots in small colonies in parts of its range. Colony sizes ranging two to nine bats per colony have been reported from Costa Rica, and the mean size for 24 colonies studied on Trinidad over a year's time was 2.6 bats per colony (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976a). In Trinidad, roosting groups seldom consisted of more than five individuals (Goodwin and Greenhall, 1961). Mean colony sizes tend to have low temporal variations and unimodal distributions when sampled over a large area (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976b). Population densities of S. leptura ranged from 2.5/ha in Costa Rica to 17.6/ha of this bat in these areas has estimated at 14-97 g/ha (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1977a). S. leptura roams between roosting sites and colonies, and group compositions change over time (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976a). In Costa Rica, roosting sites of S. leptura were found within riparian forests, where roost usually were located in exposed boles of a large variety of trees (Bradbury and Vehrencamp, 1976a, 1976b). This bat also has been captured in mature evergreen forest habitats in Peru (Tuttle, 1970).

References

1  McCarthy, T. J. 1993. Checklist: Mammals of Belize. BAS Newsletter
   25 (2-3).

2  Hall, E. R. 1981. Mammals of North America. Second ed. John Wiley &
   Sons. New York. 1:80

3  Koopman, Karl F. 1993. Chiroptera. in  Wilson, D. E., and D. M. Reeder,
   eds, Mammalian species of the world, 2nd ed, Smithsonian Institution
   Press, Washington, D.C., pp. 137-241.

4  Emmons, L. H. 1990.  Neotropical Rainforest Mammals, a field guide.
   University of Chicago Press.  Chicago and London. p.45-46

5  McCarthy, T. J. 1987. Distributional records of bats from the Caribbean
   lowlands of Belize and adjacent Guatemala and Mexico. In: Studies in
   Neotropical Mammalogy: Essays in Honor of Philip Hershkovitz (B.D.
   Patterson and R.M. Timm, eds.). Fieldiana:n.s. No. 39:137-162.

6  Smith, Rosemary L. 1994.  Neotropical Bats as Indicators of
   Environmental Disturbance.  Masters Thesis. Durrell Institute of
   Conservation and Ecology. pp.64.

7  Koopman, Karl F. 1994. Chiroptera: Systematics (in) Handbook of Zoology.
   W. de Gruyter. Berlin-NY. p.46.

8  Yancey, II, F.D., J.R. Goetze, and C. Jones. 1998. American Society of
   Mammalogists. Mammalian Species No. 582:1-3.

9  Miller, B.W. and C.M. Miller. 1998. Las Sierritas, Toledo District,
   Belize. Rapid Environmental Appraisal Report for Mott MacDonald, Ltd.
   6-10 January 1998.

10 Miller, B.W.  1997. Columbia River Forest Reserve Expedition 17-23
   February, 1997, Bat Survey.  Wildlife Conservation Society Tropical
   Forest and Reserve Planning Project Belize. Technical Report. 19 pp.

11 Miller, B.W. 2000.  Miscellaneous unpublished data records from surveys
   conducted in Belize for which no specific report was written. Data
   includes results of mist-netting, harp trapping and acoustic surveys.
   Wildlife Conservation Society, Tropical Forest and Reserve Planning
   Project, Belize.

12 Miller, B.W. and C.M. Miller. 1999. Results of a survey of bats of the
   Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary. Wildlife Conservation Society,
   Tropical Forest and Reserve Planning Project, Belize. Technical Report
   for Belize Audubon Society. 16 pp.

13 CM. 1997. Carnegie Musuem, Division of mammals. Data imported on
   date: 06/13/00.

14 Miller, B.W. 2001. Community Ecology of the Non-phyllostomid bats of
   Northwestern Belize, with a landscape level assessment of the bats of
   Belize.  PhD. Dissertation. University of Kent, Durrell Institute of
   Conservation and Ecology.