Belize Biodiversity Information System

Taxonomy

Species ID	050830
Name	Spix's disk-winged bat
Other Common Names
Category	05 Mammals
Phylum
Subphylum
Class	Mammalia
Subclass	Theria
Suborder	Microchiroptera
Family	Thropteridae
Genus	Thyroptera
Species	tricolor
Subspecies
References	1, 2, 3, 6
Scientific Synonyms	Thyroptera tricolor (Spix, 1823)

Comments

6* Three subspecies. T.t. albiventer (southern Mexico through Central and northwestern South American to southeatern Peru, but not west of the Andes south of Ecuador), T.t.tricolor (Trinidad and southern Venezuela to northern Bolivia and northern Brazil), T.t. juquiaensis (southeastern Brazil).

Status

Status Code	Status Translation	References
272	Uncommon: occur at low density in proper habitat.	4

Comments on Status

4* apparently patchy in huge range

Thryoptera tricolor01.JPG

Thryoptera tricolor04.JPG

Thryoptera tricolor13.JPG

Distribution

DISTRICT	References
Belize	2
Cayo	2
Corozal	2
Orange Walk	2
Stann Creek	9
Toledo	2

Administrative Unit	Occurrence	Abundance	Temporal	References
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary	Collected as voucher.	Unknown, insuffient data	Dry season (Jan-May)	9
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary	Captured or Mist netted and released	Fairly common	June	8
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary	Collected as voucher.	Unknown, insuffient data	March	10
Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary	Collected as voucher.	Unknown, insuffient data	Permanent Resident (Year-round)	5

Hydrologic Unit Distribution	References
North Stann Creek	8

ELEVATION Association	References
1-200 m	9, 8

QUAD Distribution	References
16 45' to 17 00'; 88 15' to 88 30'	9, 8, 5

Holdridge Life Zone Distribution	References
Tropical moist-transition to Subtropical	9, 8

Comments on Distribution

2* South Stann Creek, 15 mi. W All Pines.

Graphics

Distribution map

Habitat Associations

Forest Type Associations	Seral Stage	Canopy Closure	References
Lowland broadleaf moist evergreen seasonal forests over poor soils.	Disturbed	0-40%	9
Transitional Broadleaf Forest Poor in Lime-loving Species	Disturbed	0-40%	9
Lowland broadleaf moist evergreen seasonal forests over poor soils.	Disturbed	0-40%	8
Broadleaf Forest with Few Lime-loving Species	Disturbed	0-40%	8
Disturbed scrub	Canopy unknown	not applicable	10
Broadleaf Forest Moderately Rich in Lime-loving Species; Cohune-Quamwood Forest	Canopy unknown	not applicable	10

 

Food Habits

Trophic

INSECTIVORE

References on Trophic Level

7

Lifestage	Food Item Consumed	Part of Food Item
Adult	Insects	Adult stage

Comments on General Food Habits

* From 21 leaves, Findley and Wilson (1974) collected fecal samples, which ranged from 0.10 to 0.54 g, with a mean of 0.21g. From this they estimated that Thyroptera tricolor may consume up to 0.8 g of insects per night per individual.

Life History

Life History Narrative

7* Findley and Wilson (1974) studied the ecology of Thyroptera tricolor in Costa Rica. They found individuals regularly in rolled leaves of Heliconia (Musaceae) and occasionally in Calathea (Marantaceae) growing in the forest, in clearings, and along the edges of roads and trails. In their study area, a shaded section of forest where the plants were sparsely distributed, they found these bats in approximately every fourth suitably rolled leaf examined. Villa-R. (1966) also found T. tricolor in shady forest. The bats inhabit leaves with the diameter of the opening between 50 and 100 mm. A given leaf remains in the favorable size range for only 24 hours. The bats occurred in colonies of from one to nine individuals with a mean of six. The colonies showed a definite social cohesion and individual members of a colony tended to remain together every day. Within colonies, there is no predictable age or sex structure, but a sex ratio of 1:1 obtained for the population as a whole. Thirty-three percent of 58 animals aged were young, as judge by their dark brown immature pelage. Abundance of the species seems to be limited by roost availability. Morphological specialization's of the bats probably limit them to rolled leaves as roosting sites. Their tendency to roost head up is well adapted to rolled leaves, but not to the more normal bat roosting sites such as caves or hollow trees. Several kinds of beetles and flies, and various larval insects were found in the leaves with the bats. Large orthopterans, which also used the rolled leaves, never shared them with the bats.

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. 1:181

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.83

5  Rabinowitz, A.; B. G. Nottingham, Jr. 1989. Mammal species richness and
   relative abundance of small mammals in a subtropical wet forest of
   Central America.  Mammalia V. 53, No. 2, pp.217-226.

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

7  Wilson, D.E., and J.S. Findley. 1977. Thyroptera tricolor.
   American Society of Mammalogists. Mammalian Species No. 71:1-3.

8  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.

9  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.

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