Correspondence –Notes 375

The study was supported by the Hungarian Scientific Records of Greater Noctule Research Fund (OTKA PD105116), the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund (14258509) and the ( lasiopterus) from Romania – Bolyai Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences with new additions (to GS). Nyctalus lasiopterus (Schreber, 1780) is a rare bat References Baskevich, M., Potapov, S., Mironova, T. (2016): Caucasian cryptic species of the Western Palaearctic, with sporadic species of rodents as models in research on the problems of data on considerable part of its area, even in parts species and speciation. Biology Bulletin Reviews 6: 245-259. where most maps show continuous distribution Bukhnikashvili, A., Shenbrot, G. (2008): Sicista kluchorica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2008: e.T20196A9177864, (see Vlaschenko et al. 2016). Regarding Central accessed at: 18 February 2016. and Western Europe, significant populations of Cserkész, T., Aczél-Fridrich, Z., Hegyeli, Z., Sugár, S., Czabán, D., the species are known from Hungary and Spain Horváth, O., Sramkó, G. (2015): Rediscovery of Hungarian mouse (Sicista subtilis trizona) in Transylvania (Romania) with (Estók 2010, Ibáñez et al. 2004). In Romania, N. molecular characterisation of its phylogenetic affinities. lasiopterus is the rarest bat species with very few Mammalia 79: 215-224. data. In this paper we summarise all Romanian Cserkész, T., Rusin, M., Sramkó, G. (2016): An integrative systematic revision of the European southern birch mice occurrences of the species, with new additions. (Rodentia: Sminthidae, Sicista subtilis group). Review N. lasiopterus is one of the three bat species 46: 114-130. predating songbirds (Dondini &Vergari 2000, Holden, M.E., Cserkész, T., Musser, G. (2017): Family Sminthidae. In: Wilson, D.E., Lacher, T.E., Mittermeier, R.A. (eds.), Ibáñez et al. 2016). According to radio-tracking Handbook of the of the World - Volume 7 - Rodents studies, in some areas it has very large home II. Lynx Edicions. (manuscript under review) ranges to be able to find appropriate roosting and Møller, J.D., Baagoe, H.J., Jensen, T.S. (2009): Home Range and Microhabitat Use of Northern Birch Mouse Sicista betulina in feeding habitats (Popa-Lisseanu et al. 2009). Popu- Denmark. (manuscript). lation genetic studies revealed that both nuclear Shenbrot, G.I., Sokolov, V.E., Heptner, V.G., Kovalskaya, Y.M. and mitochondrial differentiation between colo- (1995): The Mammals of Russia and Adjacent Regions. Dipodoidea. Nauka Press, Moscow, Russia. nies were relatively low, in contrast with other Sokolov, V.E., Baskevich, M.I., Kovalskaya, Y.M. (1981): Revision of temperate bat species (Santos et al. 2016). birch mice of the Caucasus: sibling species Sicista caucasica N. lasiopterus was observed in Romania on the Vinogradov, 1925 and S. kluchorica sp. n. (Rodentia, th Dipodidae). Zoologichesky Zhurnal 60: 1386-1393. 20 of May in 1953 for the first time (Dumitrescu Sokolov, V.E., Baskevich, M.I., Kovalskaya, Y.M. (1986): Sicista et al. 1962-1963), when one specimen was found in kazbegica sp. n. (Rodentia, Dipodidae) from the upper reaches a tree hollow (Tilia sp.) with several N. noctula in- of the Terek River basin. Zoologichesky Zhurnal 65: 949-952. Vinogradov, B.S. (1925): On the Structure of the External Genitalia dividuals in the Comana forest, near the settle- in Dipodidæ and Zapodidæ (Rodentia) as a Classificatory ment Comana, Giurgiu County. The next data re- Character. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 95: fers to a specimen from the settlement Stejaru, in 577-585. the vicinity of Socetu, Teleorman County (Barbu & Key words: protected species, little-known species, Pantea 1981). Pocora & Pocora (2012) published subalpine meadow, terra typica, birch mouse, Caucasus. two new records of the species based on acoustic data, one from the forest of Tătăruşi (Iaşi County, Article No.: e162702 30.06.2011), and one from Bârnova forest (Iaşi Received: 05. March 2016 / Accepted: 04. October 2016 Available online: 24. November 2016 / Printed: December 2017 County, 06.04.2011) (Fig. 1).

In the summer of 2011, an intensive survey of the bat Tamás CSERKÉSZ1,*, Mikhail RUSIN2, fauna of the Ciomad-Balvanyos (ROSCI0037) Natura 2000 Dávid CZABÁN1 and Gábor SRAMKÓ3,4 site was conducted (Fig.1.). Mainly acoustic methods were used during the survey on the 8th of June and be- 1. Department of Systematic Zoology and Ecology, Eötvös Loránd tween the 26th of July and the 5th of August. Recordings University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c. H-1117 Budapest, were made with Pettersson D500X detectors (settings: Hungary. sampling rate: 300 kHz, HP filter: OFF, rec. length: 10 sec, 2. Department of Evolutional and Genetical Systematics, call triggered start of recording) on 28 points of the site. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology, Kiev 01030, Ukraine. 3. Department of Botany, University of Debrecen, Egyetem tér 1. H- The detectors were activated at sunset and turned off just 4032 Debrecen, Hungary. before sunrise. Sound analysis was performed with the 4. MTA-DE “Evolutionary Phylogenomics” Research Group, Adobe Audition software. Echolocation calls of N. lasiop- Egyetem tér 1., H-4032 Debrecen, Hungary. terus can overlap with the calls of N. noctula, therefore *Corresponding author, T. Cserkész, e-mail: only echolocation calls (excluding social calls) with the [email protected] strongest frequency below 16 kHz were identified as N.

lasiopterus calls (Estók & Siemers 2009).

376 North-Western Journal of Zoology 13(2) / 2017

Figure 2. Sonogram of the calls of a Nyctalus lasiopterus, recorded in the Ciomad-Balvanyos Natura 2000 site

Estók, P. (2011): Present status of a rare bat species, Nyctalus lasiopterus (Schreber, 1780) in Hungary. Hystrix 22(1): 99-104. Estók, P., Gombkötő, P., Cserkész, T. (2007): Roosting behaviour of Greater Noctule Nyctalus lasiopterus Schreber, 1780 (Chiroptera, ) in Hungary as revealed by radio-tracking. Mammalia 71(1-2): 86-88. Estók, P., Siemers, B.M. (2009): Calls of a bird-eater: the echolocation behaviour of the enigmatic greater noctule, Nyctalus lasiopterus. Acta Chiropterologica 11(2): 405-414. Ibáñez, C., Guillén, A., Bogdanowicz, W. (2004): Nyctalus lasiopterus (Schreber, 1780) – Riesenabendsegler. pp. 695-716. In: Krapp, F. (ed.), Handbuch der Säugetiere Europas, Vol. 4. AULA-Verlag. Ibáñez, C., Popa-Lisseanu, A.G., Pastor-Beviá, D., García-Mudarra, J.L., Juste, J. (2016): Concealed by darkness: interactions between predatory and nocturnally migrating songbirds illuminated by DNA sequencing. Molecular Ecology 25(20): 5254-5263. Pocora, E.I., Pocora, V. (2012): Ghid practic pentru identificarea Figure 1. Records of Nyctalus lasiopterus from Romania. liliecilor cu ajutorul sonogramelor. Alexandru Ioan Cuza Circles: former data (1: Dumitrescu et al. 1962-1963, 2: University Press, Iaşi. Barbu & Pantea 1981, 3-4: Pocora & Pocora 2012). Popa-Lisseanu, A.G., Bontadina, F., Ibáñez, C. (2009): Giant noctule Square: own data. bats face conflicting constraints between roosting and foraging in a fragmented and heterogeneous landscape. Journal of Zoology 278: 126-133. Bat calls were found on 2971 recordings. We iden- Santos, J.D., Meyer, C.F.J., Ibáñez, C., Popa-Lisseanu, A.G., Juste, J. (2016): Dispersal and group formation dynamics in a rare and tified the calls of N. lasiopterus on three recordings endangered temperate forest bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus, (recorded on the 8th of June and on the 1st of Au- Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae). Ecology and Evolution 6(22): gust) (Fig. 2). The recordings were made before 8193-8204. Vlaschenko, A., Kravchenko, K., Prylustka, A., Ivancheva, E., the start of the migration period of the species, Sitnikova, E., Mishin, A. (2016): Structure of summer bat which indicates that N. lasiopterus possibly has assemblages in forests in European Russia. Turkish Journal of summer colonies in the area. The roosting behav- Zoology 40: 876-893. iour of the species was studied in Hungary, radio Key words: Nyctalus lasiopterus, country record, acoustics, tracked colonies used hollow trees for roosting in Romania an old natural forest (Estók et al. 2007). Similar forests exist in the Ciomad-Balvanyos Article No.: e177701 Natura 2000 site, which also supports the hy- Received: 07. January 2017 / Accepted: 06. June 2017 Available online: 27. July 2017 / Printed: December 2017 pothesis that colonies of N. lasiopterus may inhabit these suitable forests. The presence of this very rare and another 16 bat species in the Ciomad- Péter ESTÓK1,2,*, Tamás GÖRFÖL3, Balvanyos Natura 2000 site underlines the impor- Krisztina SZŐKE2,4 and Levente BARTI5 tance of the conservation of these forests. 1. Bükk Mammalogical Society, 3300 Eger, Maklári út 77/A, Hungary. Acknowledgements. We would like to thank to Vinca 2. Eszterházy Károly University, Department of Zoology, 3300 Minor Egyesület and BioAqua Pro Kft. for their financial Eger, Eszterházy tér 1., Hungary. contribution to this study. 3. Hungarian Natural History Museum, Department of Zoology, 1088 Budapest, Baross utca 13., Hungary. References 4. University of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Parasitology Barbu, P., Pantea, F. (1981): Une nouvelle citation de l'espèce and Zoology, 1078 Budapest, István utca 2., Hungary. Nyctalus lasiopterus Schreber, 1780 (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) 5. Romanian Bat Protection Association, 440014 Szatmárnémeti, I. en Roumanie. Analele Universităţii Bucureşti 30: 69-70. B. Deleanu 2 sz., Romania. Dondini, G., Vergari, S. (2000): Carnivory in the *Corresponding author, P. Estók, [email protected] (Nyctalus lasiopterus)in Italy. Journal of Zoology 251: 233-236. Dumitrescu, M., Tanasachi, J., Orghidan, T. (1962-1963): Răspândirea chiropterelor în R.P. Română. Travaux de l'Institut de Spéologie "ÉmileRacovitza", 36: 509-575.