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                   A Synopsis of the American Bats
                      of the Genus Pipistrellus

                                  BY

                E. RAYMOND HALL and WALTER W. DALQUEST

                  University of Kansas Publications
                       Museum of Natural History

            Volume 1, No. 26, pp. 591-602, 1 figure in text
                           January 20, 1950

                         University of Kansas
                               LAWRENCE
                                 1950




    UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS PUBLICATIONS, MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

        Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, Edward H. Taylor,
                 A. Byron Leonard, Robert W. Wilson

            Volume 1, No. 26, pp. 591-602, 1 figure in text
                           January 20, 1950

                         UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
                           Lawrence, Kansas

                              PRINTED BY
                   FERD VOILAND, JR., STATE PRINTER
                            TOPEKA, KANSAS
                                 1950

                     [Illustration: Union Label]

                                23-1546




                   A Synopsis of the American Bats
                      of the Genus Pipistrellus

                                  By

                E. RAYMOND HALL AND WALTER W. DALQUEST


Four nominal species of the genus _Pipistrellus_ are currently
recognized in North America. They are _Pipistrellus subflavus_
(F. Cuvier) of eastern North America, _Pipistrellus hesperus_ (H. Allen)
of western North America, _Pipistrellus veracrucis_ (Ward) from
Veracruz, Mexico, and _Pipistrellus cinnamomeus_ Miller from Tabasco,
Mexico.

In the past three years, specimens have been obtained in Veracruz (by
Dalquest) of each of the southern species. One of these, _P.
cinnamomeus_, previously was known from a single specimen; the other,
_P. veracrucis_, was known only from six specimens which now are lost
or misplaced. The results of our study of these recently acquired
Mexican specimens constitute our principal contribution in this paper;
we have done little more with the material from the United States and
Canada than to codify the findings of other mammalogists with respect
to the systematic status and geographic distribution.

Study of the available specimens reveals that there are only two
species, _Pipistrellus hesperus_ and _Pipistrellus subflavus_;
_Pipistrellus veracrucis_ proves to be only a subspecies (geographic
race) of _P. subflavus_, and _Pipistrellus cinnamomeus_ proves to be a
species of another genus, _Myotis_ (see Hall and Dalquest, page 583 of
this volume).


Genus +Pipistrellus+ Kaup

  1829. _Pipistrellus_ Kaup, Skizzirte Entw.-Gesch. u. natuerl. Syst.
  europ. Thierw., Vol. 1, p. 98, Type, _Vespertilio pipistrellus_
  Schreber (not seen by us, after Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 13:87,
  1897).

_Range in the New World._--In North America from southern Canada to
Honduras (47 degrees to 5 degrees North Latitude) and from the
Atlantic to the Pacific; not recorded from the West Indies or South
America.

_Characters._--Size small; tail approximately as long as outstretched
leg; ears well developed with prominent tragus; dental formula: i.2/3;
c.1/1; p.2/2; m.3/3; two upper incisors subequal and outer one lacking
a concavity on surface facing canine; dentition otherwise essentially
as in _Myotis_ Kaup except that third premolar is always, instead of
rarely, absent.

_Remarks._--There are two species in North America. Their geographic
ranges, as now known, meet, but do not overlap. Certain differences
between the two species are listed in the parallel columns below. Most
of these differences in the skull and teeth are illustrated in figures
22 and 23 on page 92 of Miller's "Revision of the North American bats
of the family Vespertilionidae (N. Amer. Fauna, 13, 1897)."


  ======================================================================
  Structure           | _P. hesperus_           | _P. subflavus_
  ======================================================================
  Color               | Predominately gray      | Predominately brown
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  Foot                | Less than half as long  | More than half as long
                      | as tibia                | as tibia
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  Thumb, length of    | Less than 4.9 mm.       | More than 4.9 mm.
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  Tragus              | Blunt, terminal part    | Narrow, straight
                      | bent forward            |
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  Skull               | Nearly straight         | Dish-faced
  (dorsal profile)    |                         |
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  Braincase           | Small                   | Large
  (viewed from above) |                         |
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  Palate              | Extending far behind    | Extending short
                      | molars; spine short,    | distance behind
                      |                         | molars; spine long,
                      | narrow at base          | wide at base
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  I2                  | Unicuspidate            | Bicuspidate
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  I3                  | Accessory cusp present  | Accessory cusp absent
                      | on anterointernal       | on anterointernal
                      | face                    | face
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  P1 (occlusal view)  | Less than a seventh as  | More than a seventh
                      | large as canine         | as large as canine
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  P1 (labial view)    | Concealed by C1 and P4  | Not concealed
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  P4                  | Touching canine         | Not touching canine
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  i3                  | Touching i2 and c1      | Separated by space
                      |                         | from i2 and c1
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  p3                  | Lower than anterior     | As high as anterior
                      | cusp of canine          | cusp of canine
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------
  Distance from c1    | Less than length of m2; | More than length of
  to m1               | premolars crowded       | m2; premolars less
                      |                         | crowded
  --------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------


+Pipistrellus hesperus+

(Synonomy under subspecies)

_Range._--Arid Sonoran life-zones of western North America from
Washington southward to Jalisco.

_Characters._--Smoke Gray to Buff Brown (Capitalized color terms after
Ridgway, Color Standards and Color Nomenclature, Washington, D. C.,
1912) dorsally; total length, 60 to 86; foot less than half as long as
tibia; tragus blunt with terminal part bent forward; skull nearly
straight in dorsal profile; inner upper incisor unicuspidate; outer
upper incisor with accessory cusp on anterointernal face; P1, viewed
from occlusal face, less than a seventh of area of canine, and from
labial aspect concealed by canine and fourth premolar; lower, third
premolar lower than anterior cusp of canine; lower premolars crowded,
distance between canine and first molar less than length of second
lower molar.

_Remarks._--In the United States and in the northern part of Mexico,
_P. hesperus_ is the smallest bat found. Little is known about its
habits. It emerges earlier in the evening than other species of bats.
The frequency with which it is seen near cliffs suggests that it finds
concealment under rocks. In winter, in Nevada (Hall, Mammals of
Nevada, p. 150, 1946), _P. hesperus_ has been found singly in crevices
in the roofs of mine tunnels.

In the United States National Museum in July, 1949, the specimen
providing the easternmost record station of occurrence was examined by
us. This is No. 23591, in alcohol, taken on August 24, 1890, by
William Lloyd, original No. 88, at the mouth of the Pecos River in
Texas. In the same collection there is a specimen of _Pipistrellus
subflavus_ providing the westernmost record of occurrence of that
species. This specimen, a skin with skull, is No. 126729, [Male],
taken on May 3, 1903, by Jas. H. Gaut, original No. 1271, at Comstock,
Texas. The two localities concerned are in the Valley of the Rio
Grande, and are only about five miles apart. Nevertheless, the two
specimens are clearly referable to their respective species and show
no tendency toward intergradation. Consequently, confidence is felt in
treating _Pipistrellus hesperus_ and _Pipistrellus subflavus_ as two
distinct species.

The most recent report upon geographic variation throughout the entire
species, _Pipistrellus hesperus_, was that by Hatfield (Jour. Mamm.,
17:257-262, August 14, 1936). Later, as explained below in the account
of _P. h. australis_, Burt (Miscl. Publ., Mus. Zool., Univ. Michigan,
39:25, February 15, 1938) examined specimens from Sonora, Mexico, and
for them and for specimens from southern Arizona proposed a different
nomenclatural arrangement.


  [Illustration: FIG. 1. Map showing the geographic ranges of
      species and subspecies of _Pipistrellus_.

     1. _Pipistrellus h. hesperus_
     2. _Pipistrellus h. merriami_
     3. _Pipistrellus h. australis_
     4. _Pipistrellus h. maximus_
     5. _Pipistrellus h. santarosae_
     6. _Pipistrellus s. subflavus_
     7. _Pipistrellus s. obscurus_
     8. _Pipistrellus s. veracrucis_
  ]


+Pipistrellus hesperus hesperus+ (H. Allen)

  _Scotophilus hesperus_ H. Allen, Smithsonian, Miscl. Coll.,
  No. 165, Vol. 7 (art. 1): p. 43, June, 1864.

  _Vesperugo hesperus_ True, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 7:602, 1885.

  _Pipistrellus hesperus_ Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 13:88, October 16,
  1897.

_Type locality._--Old Fort Yuma, Imperial County, California, on right
bank of Colorado River, opposite present town of Yuma, Arizona.

_Range._--Intermontane region of the United States from south-central
Washington south to Catavina, Baja California, and from southeastern
California eastward to southeastern Utah. Marginal occurrences (unless
otherwise indicated, after Hatfield, Jour. Mamm., 17:258, 1936) are:
_Washington_ (Dalquest, Univ. Kansas Publ., Mus. Nat. Hist., 2:165,
1948): Maryhill; Vantage; Almota. _Oregon_: Watson. _Idaho_: 8 mi. W
Rogerson (Davis, Mamms. Idaho, p. 120, 1939). _Nevada_: Middle Stormy
Spring (Hall, Mamms. Nevada, p. 151, 1946). _Utah_: Goodridge.
_Arizona_: 11 mi. NW Kayenta; Tinajas Altas. _Baja California_:
Catavina; San Jose; Laguna Hanson. _California_: Dos Palmos Spring;
Banning; Victorville; 12 mi. below (down river) Bodfish; Little Lake;
2 mi. S Benton Station. _Nevada_: 2 mi. NW Morgans Ranch; Deephole.
_Oregon_: Princeton.

_Diagnosis._--Size medium for the species; total length, 71.8(66-74);
tibia, 12.0(10.7-13.5); forearm, 29.4(27.8-31.8); greatest length of
skull, 11.9(11.5-12.3); breadth of braincase, 6.3(6.1-6.4). Color
between Drab Gray and Smoke Gray, dorsally; between Smoke Gray and
Pale Smoke Gray, ventrally (after Hatfield, Jour. Mamm., 17:257,
1936).


+Pipistrellus hesperus merriami+ (Dobson)

  _Vesperugo merriami_ Dobson, Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., 18(ser. 5):
  124, August, 1896.

  _Pipistrellus hesperus merriami_ Grinnell, Proc. California Acad.
  Sci., 3(ser. 4):279, August 28, 1913.

_Type locality._--Red Bluff, Tehama County, California.

_Range._--California west of the Sierra Nevada; the Sacramento Valley,
the San Joaquin Valley, and the Coast Range from San Francisco Bay
south to San Diego County. Marginal occurrences (after Hatfield, Jour.
Mamm., 17:260, 1936, unless otherwise noted) are: _California_: Dales
on Paines Creek; Fyffe; Yosemite Valley; Shaver Ranger Station;
Springville; Fort Tejon; Painted Gorge (P. H. Krutzsch, MS); Carrizo
Creek; thence northward up the coast probably to San Francisco Bay; in
the Sacramento Valley west to Rumsey.

_Diagnosis._--Size medium for the species; total length, 71.3(66-78);
tibia, 11.2(10.6-11.7); forearm, 28.9(27.5-30.8); greatest length of
skull, 11.8(11.3-12.2); breadth of braincase, 6.4(6.0-6.6). Color
Buffy Brown to Army Brown, dorsally; Wood Brown to Buffy Brown,
ventrally (after Hatfield, _op. cit._: 258, 260).


+Pipistrellus hesperus australis+ Miller

  _Pipistrellus hesperus australis_ Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 13:90,
  October 16, 1897.

  _Pipistrellus hesperus apus_ Elliot, Field Columb. Mus., pub. 90,
  zool. ser., 3:269, March 8, 1904. Type from Providencia Mines,
  Sonora, Mexico.

_Type locality._--Barranca Ibarra, Jalisco, Mexico.

_Range._--Central Arizona south to Jalisco and including the southern
half of Baja California. Marginal occurrences (after Hatfield, _op.
cit._: 261, unless otherwise indicated) are: _Arizona_: Camp Verde;
Fort Bowie. _Sonora_: Pilares (Burt, Miscl. Publ., Mus. Zool., Univ.
Michigan, 39:24, 1938). _Jalisco_: Barranca Ibarra (Miller, orig.
descr.). _Baja California_: Miraflores; San Ignacio. _Arizona_: Bates
Well.

_Diagnosis._--Size small for the species; total length, 67.1(60-72);
tibia, 11.3(10.1-12.3); forearm, 28.4(26.3-30.0); greatest length of
skull, 11.7(11.3-12.0); breadth of braincase, 6.1(5.9-6.3). Color:
between Cinnamon Drab and Drab, dorsally; Wood Brown to Light Drab,
ventrally (after Hatfield, _op. cit._:260).

_Remarks._--Hatfield (_op. cit._) examined no specimens from Mexico
(Baja California excepted) and Burt (_op. cit._) who did examine some
specimens (from Sonora), referred one from northwestern Sonora to _P.
h. hesperus_ and those from northeastern Sonora to _P. h. merriami_.
Since our treatment of subspecies of _Pipistrellus_ (_P. s. veracrucis_
excepted) aims merely to reflect the latest systematic treatment
accorded the animals, we would follow Burt (_op. cit._) were it not
for the fact that he shows the geographic range of _P. h. merriami_
separated by the range of _P. h. hesperus_ into two parts. This is
inconsistent with the ordinarily accepted concept of subspecies.
Consequently, we have followed Hatfield (_op. cit._). Clearly, a
critical study is needed of adequate material of _Pipistrellus
hesperus_ of Mexico.


+Pipistrellus hesperus maximus+ Hatfield

  _Pipistrellus hesperus maximus_ Hatfield, Jour. Mamm., 17:261,
  August 14, 1936.

_Type locality._--Dog Spring, Hidalgo County, New Mexico.

_Range._--Southern New Mexico, western Texas and probably the
adjoining parts of Mexico. Marginal occurrences (after Hatfield [_op.
cit._:261] except as otherwise indicated) are: _New Mexico_: Animas
Valley; Florida Mountains; Carlsbad Cave. _Texas_: Mouth of Pecos
River (Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna, 25:210, 1905); Boquillas (Borell and
Bryant, Univ. California Publ. Zool., 48:9, 1942); Glen Spring (Borell
and Bryant, _loc. cit._).

_Diagnosis._--Size large for the species; total length, 80.3(78-83);
tibia, 12.3(11.7-13.1); forearm, 32.9(31.8-33.3); greatest length of
skull, 12.7(12.3-12.9); breadth of braincase, 6.6(6.5-6.7). Color
between Smoke Gray and Pale Drab (after Hatfield, _op. cit._:261).


+Pipistrellus hesperus santarosae+ Hatfield

  _Pipistrellus hesperus santarosae_ Hatfield, Jour. Mamm., 17:261,
  August 14, 1936.

_Type locality._--Santa Rosa, Guadalupe County, New Mexico.

_Range._--New Mexico (excepting southern part) and western Colorado.
Marginal occurrences (after Hatfield, _op. cit._:262) are: _Colorado_:
Bedrock. _New Mexico_: Santa Rosa; Socorro; Laguna.

_Diagnosis._--Size large for the species; total length, 82.0(80-86);
tibia, 12.4(11.9-13.0); forearm, 32.8(31.7-34.1); greatest length of
skull, 12.7(12.3-13.1); breadth of braincase, 6.6(6.3-6.8). Color
between Buffy Brown and Wood Brown (after Hatfield, _op. cit._:261,
262).


+Pipistrellus subflavus+

(Synonomy under subspecies)

_Range._--Canadian to Tropical life-zones of eastern North America
from Quebec southward to Honduras.

_Characters._--Sayal Brown to darker than Mummy Brown, dorsally; total
length, 73-89; foot more than half as long as tibia; tragus tapering
and straight; dorsal profile of skull convex in interorbital region;
inner upper incisor bicuspidate; outer upper incisor unicuspidate
(lacking accessory cusp on anterointernal face); P1 viewed from
occlusal face more than a seventh of area of canine and visible from
labial aspect; lower, third premolar as high as anterior cusp of
canine; lower premolars less crowded than in _P. hesperus_ and
distance between canine and first molar less than length of second
lower molar.

_Remarks._--In winter this species hibernates in caves in clusters of
fewer than fifty individuals, but in summer fewer of the bats live
there and at this season some have been captured as far as thirty
miles from any such retreat suggesting that the bats inhabit other
types of shelter. The wide range of this species in respect to
life-zones is noteworthy; it occurs in the Canadian Life-zone (Joliet,
Quebec), the Tropical Life-zone (30 km. SSE Jesus Carranza, Veracruz)
and in the intervening life-zones.

The longer thumb of this species, in comparison with that of
_Pipistrellus hesperus_, was verified by measuring the thumb including
its claw and the pad at the base of the thumb in 12 _P. s. veracrucis_
and 10 _P. h. maximus_. In _veracrucis_ the mean was 5.9 millimeters
and the extremes were 5.5 and 6.4. In _maximus_ the corresponding
figures were 3.9, 3.6 and 4.3.


+Pipistrellus subflavus subflavus+ (F. Cuvier)

  _V[espertilio]. subflavus_ F. Cuvier, Nouv. Ann. Mus. Hist. Nat.
  Paris, 1: 17, 1832.

  _Vespertilio erythrodactylus_ Temminck, Monogr. de Mamm., II, 13me
  monogr., p. 238, 1835-1841 (not seen--after Miller, N. Amer. Fauna,
  13:90, October 16, 1897).

  _Scotophilus georgianus_ H. Allen, Smithsonian Miscl. Coll.,
  No. 165, Vol. 7 (art. 1), p. 35, June, 1864.

  _Vesperugo carolinensis_ H. Allen, U. S. Nat. Mus. Bull. 43:121,
  March 14, 1894.

  _Pipistrellus subflavus_ Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 13:90,
  figs. 22,23, October 16, 1897.

_Type locality._--Eastern United States, probably Georgia.

_Range._--From approximately 40 degrees North Latitude in Pennsylvania
and Kansas southward to central Florida and at least to extreme
southern Texas; from the Atlantic Coast westward to south-central
Kansas and Val Verde County, Texas. Marginal occurrences are: _Kansas_
(K. U. Collection): 4-1/2 mi. SW Sun City; Ft. Leavenworth. _Illinois_
(Necker and Hatfield, Bull. Chicago Acad. Sci., 6(3):45, 1941):
Quincy; Urbana. _Indiana_ (Lyon, Amer. Midland Nat., 17:73, 1936):
Monroe County; Franklin Co. _Ohio_ (Bole and Moulthrop, Sci. Publs.
Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist., 5(6):115, 1942: Hamilton Co.; Smoky Creek.
_West Virginia_ (Kellogg, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., 84:449, 1937):
Charleston; Smoke Hole Cave. _Pennsylvania_ (Rhoads, Mamms. Pa. and
N. J., p. 211, 1903): Carlisle; Germantown. _New Jersey_: Haddonfield
(Rhoads, Mamms. Pa. and N. J., p. 211, 1903). _Florida_: Tarpon
Springs (Sherman., Proc. Florida Acad. Sci., p. 107, 1936). _Texas_:
Brownsville (Bailey, N. Amer. Fauna, 25:211, 1905); Comstock (Bailey,
_loc. cit._); Kerr Co. (Taylor and Davis, Game, Fish and Oyster Comm.
Bull., 50:17, 1947). _Oklahoma_: 10 mi. S and 2 mi. E Sulphur (Blair,
Amer. Midland Nat., 22:100, 1939).

_Diagnosis._--Size large; eight specimens from Barber and Butler
counties, Kansas, measure in total length, 84(77-89); tibia,
14.8(14.5-15); forearm, 33.5(31.8-35.3); greatest length of skull
(exclusive of incisors), 12.8(12.3-13.1); breadth of braincase
immediately above roots of zygomatic arches, 6.5(6.4-6.7). Color
ranging from Snuff Brown to Sayal Brown.


+Pipistrellus subflavus obscurus+ Miller

  _Pipistrellus subflavus obscurus_ Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 13:93,
  October 16, 1897.

_Type locality._--Lake George, Warren County, New York.

_Range._--From southern Quebec and southern Ontario south to southern
Ohio and West Virginia; from the Atlantic Coast west into Wisconsin.
Marginal occurrences are: _Minnesota_: St. Peter (Swanson and Evans,
Jour. Mamm., 17:39, 1936); Marine (Swanson, Tech. Bull. No. 2,
Minnesota Dept. Conservation, p. 60, 1945). _Wisconsin_: Hurley
(Greeley and Beer, Jour. Mamm., 30:198, 1949). _Quebec_: Joliet
(Anderson, Nat. Mus. Canada, Biol. ser. No. 31, Bull. 102:30, 1946).
_Vermont_: Brandon (Osgood, Jour. Mamm., 19:436, 1938). _Maine_: No
locality more precise than the state (Allen, Occ. Papers Boston Soc.
Nat. Hist., 7(3):35, June, 1904). _New York_: Hastings on Hudson
(Rowley, Abstr. of Proc. Linnean Soc. N. Y., for yr. ending March 11,
1902, p. 57). _Pennsylvania_: Beaver (Rhoads, Mamms. Pa. and N. J.,
1903, p. 211). _West Virginia_: Cornwall's Cave (Frum, Jour. Mamm.,
25:195, 1944). _Ohio_: Cat Run (Bole and Moulthrop, Sci. Publs.
Cleveland Mus. Nat. Hist., 5(6):116, 1942); Symmes Creek (Bole and
Moulthrop, _loc. cit._); Dry Cave (Bole and Moulthrop, _loc. cit._);
"Union County" (Rausch, Jour. Mamm., 27:275, 1946). _Wisconsin_:
Devils Lake (Jackson, Jour. Mamm., 1:38, 1919).

_Diagnosis._--"... color duller and less yellow, and dark tips of
shorter hairs on back more conspicuous" than in _P. subflavus
subflavus_ according to the original description.

_Remarks._--No one, as far as we know, has carefully studied the
variation in _Pipistrellus subflavus_ of the United States and Canada
since Miller named _P. s. obscurus_. With the more abundant material
now available, such an appraisal would be worth-while. The occurrences
cited above for Minnesota and Wisconsin were recorded in the
literature under the specific name without indication of subspecific
affinity. The reference of specimens from these states to the
subspecies _P. s. obscurus_ is an arbitrary assignment on our part; we
have not seen them. However, two specimens in the University of Kansas
Museum of Natural History from Potosi (Snake Cave) Grant County,
Wisconsin, are referable to _P. s. obscurus_. These provide the
southwesternmost record station of occurrence in Wisconsin but are
not shown on the distribution map because the specimens were received
after figure 1 was prepared.

It is noteworthy that the species _Pipistrellus subflavus_ has not
yet, as far as we can ascertain, been recorded from Michigan, northern
Indiana, northern Illinois, or Iowa. Probably the species occurs in
these areas.


+Pipistrellus subflavus veracrucis+ (Ward)

  _Vesperugo veracrucis_ Ward, Amer. Nat., 25:745, August, 1891.

  _Pipistrellus veracrucis_ Miller, N. Amer. Fauna, 13:93, October
  16, 1897.

_Type locality._--Las Vigas, 8,500 ft., Veracruz.

_Range._--Eastern Mexico, certainly from the type locality southward
into Honduras. Records of occurrence are: _Veracruz_: Las Vigas (13
specimens from 4 km. E Las Vigas, 8,500 ft., K. U.); 30 km. SSE Jesus
Carranza, 1 (K. U.). _Honduras_: Jilamo Farm, Tela District, 3 (Univ.
Michigan).

_Diagnosis._--Size small for the species; measurements of 13 near
topotypes are: total length, 78(73-85); tibia, 12.9(11.8-14.7);
forearm, 31.8(29.5-33.1); greatest length of skull (exclusive of
incisors), 12.2(11.8-12.6); breadth of braincase immediately above
roots of zygomatic arches, 6.3(6.0-6.7). Color darker than Mummy Brown
above and below.

_Remarks._--The specimen from thirty kilometers south-southeast of
Jesus Carranza, Veracruz, and the three specimens from Honduras agree
in all respects with topotypes. The color of _P. s. veracrucis_ is
much darker than that of _P. s. obscurus_ and is between black and the
darkest brown in Ridgway's (_op. cit._) color key. Rinker (Jour.
Mamm., 29:179-180,1948) described the three specimens from Honduras
without assigning a specific name to them because he lacked topotypes
of _P. s. veracrucis_. We find nothing in his description to correct,
but can add that the upper tooth-rows in many, but not in all,
specimens of _P. s. veracrucis_ are straighter than in _P. s.
subflavus_. Probably it was this feature to which Rinker referred when
he said that in _veracrucis_ "The tooth rows tend to be more
convergent posteriorly." Rinker did not refer the three specimens from
Honduras to _P. veracrucis_ because Ward's original description states
that _veracrucis_ has evenly spaced lower incisors and a basal cusp on
the lower canine on only its forward edge. Rinker's specimens from
Honduras have the first incisors in contact with each other, the
second incisors in contact with the first incisors and the third
incisor on each side of the lower jaw separated by a space from the
second incisor and from the canine. The specimens from Honduras have a
basal cusp on the hinder edge of the lower canine. In these two
features they agree with the specimens from Veracruz and with
specimens of _Pipistrellus subflavus_ from the United States and
Canada. It is clear that Ward (Amer. Nat., 25:747,1891) was mistaken
in stating that the lower incisors of _veracrucis_ were evenly spaced
and that the canine had a basal cusp on only the forward edge. Ward
(_loc. cit._) was correct in regarding his _Vesperugo veracrucis_ as
"most closely related to _V. georgianus_ [= _Pipistrellus
subflavus_]," but for want of actual specimens of _P. subflavus_ to
use in comparison was incorrect in supposing that _P. subflavus_ had
only two bands of color on the fur, more hair on the legs, and a
larger area of hair on the interfemoral membrane. In these respects we
perceive no difference between specimens from Veracruz and the United
States.

_Vesperugo veracrucis_ Ward, therefore, proves to be only a subspecies
of _Pipistrellus subflavus_, but is well characterized by dark color
and small size.

_University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, Lawrence, Kansas._

_Transmitted October 31, 1949._




                                  []
                               23-1546


       *       *        *        *        *

  Transcriber's Notes

  The text presented in this file is that contained in the original
  printed version. Only one typographical error was noted in the
  conversion of the printed document to digital format.

  Typographical Error

    Page 598: P.h. veracrucis => P. s. veracrucis


  Emphasis Notation

  In order to represent the emphasis styling displayed in the
  original, the following formatting has been employed:

    _Text_  =   Italic

    +Text+  =   Bold


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End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Synopsis of the American Bats of the
Genus Pipistrellus, by Walter W. Dalquest and E. Raymond Hall

*** 