Acta Soc. Zool. Bohem. 78: 1–162, 2014 ISSN 1211-376X Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East. Part 11. On the bat fauna of Libya II Petr BENDA1,2), Friederike SPITZENBERGER3), Vladimír HANÁK2), Michal ANDREAS4), Antonín REITER5), Martin Ševčík2), Jiří Šmíd1) & Marcel UHRIN6) 1) Department of Zoology, National Museum (Natural History), Václavské nám. 68, CZ–115 79 Praha 1, Czech Republic; e-mail: [email protected] 2) Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, CZ–128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic 3) BatLife Österreich c/o Säugetiersammlung Naturhistorisches Museum, Burgring 7, A–1010 Wien, Austria 4) Department of Biology, University of Hradec Králové, Rokitanského 62, CZ–500 03 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic 5) South Moravian Museum in Znojmo, Přemyslovců 8, CZ–669 45 Znojmo, Czech Republic 6) Department of Zoology, Institute of Biology and Ecology, P. J. Šafárik University, Moyzesova 11, SK–040 01 Košice, Slovakia Received 6 November 2014; accepted 5 December 2014 Published 22 December 2014 Abstract. A complete list of bat records available from Libya was compiled from literature and from new records, based on field studies and examination of museum specimens. The record review is complemented by distribution maps, summaries of distributional status of the particular species, files of field data, findings on feeding ecology, observations of morphology and variation, and records of arthropod ectoparasites. From the territory of Libya, at least 138 records of 18 bat species belonging to six families are known; viz. Rhinopoma cystops Thomas, 1903 (1 record site), Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774) (2), R. clivosus Cretzschmar, 1828 (6), R. horaceki Benda et Vallo, 2012 (7), R. mehelyi Matschie, 1901 (5), Asellia tridens (Geoffroy, 1813) (6), Myotis punicus Felten, 1977 (2), Eptesicus isabellinus (Temminck, 1840) (11), Pipistrellus hanaki Hulva et Benda, 2004 (12), P. kuhlii (Kuhl, 1817) (45), Vansonia rueppellii (Fischer, 1829) (1), Nyctalus lasiopterus (Schreber, 1780) (5), N. leisleri (Kuhl, 1817) (1), Otonycteris hemprichii Peters, 1859 (3), Plecotus gaisleri Benda, Kiefer, Hanák et Veith, 2004 (14), P. christii Gray, 1838 (1), Miniopterus schreibersii (Kuhl, 1817) (4), and Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814) (12). Rhinolophus ferrumequinum is here reported from the country for the first time. Since the species status of Pipistrellus deserti Thomas, 1902 has been reasonably doubted, this taxon is no more included in the faunal list of Libya. Reviews of taxonomic opinions concerning the Libyan populations of the particular species, supplemented in some cases by original analyses, are added. Arthropod ectoparasites were newly collected from eight species of bats in Libya; at least 19 species of ectoparasites belonging to nine families were recorded in total. The following taxa are here reported from the country for the first time:Argas vespertilionis (Latreille, 1802) (from Rhinopoma cystops, Eptesicus isabellinus, Pipistrellus kuhlii and Plecotus christii), Araeopsylla gestroi (Rothschild, 1906) (from Tadarida teniotis), Steatonyssus occidentalis (Ewing, 1933) (from Myotis punicus), S. periblepharus Kolenati, 1858 (from Pipistrellus kuhlii), Parasteatonyssus hoogstraali (Keegan, 1956) (from Tadarida teniotis), and Spinturnix myoti (Kolenati, 1856) (from Myotis punicus and Tadarida teniotis); and additionally also unidentified specimens of the family Trombiculidae (from Tadarida teniotis) and of the superorder Acariformes (from Plecotus gaisleri). Key words. Distribution, ecology, taxonomy, bat diet, ectoparasites, Rhinopomatidae, Rhinolophidae, Hipposideridae, Vespertilionidae, Miniopteridae, Molossidae, Cimicidae, Ischnopsyllidae, Nycteribiidae, Streblidae, Argasidae, Macronyssidae, Spinturnicidae, Trombiculidae, Libya, North Africa, Palaearctic. 1 CONTENTS Introduction ....................................................................................................................................................................... 2 Material and Methods ........................................................................................................................................................ 6 Abbreviations ..................................................................................................................................................................... 8 List of Species .................................................................................................................................................................... 9 Rhinopoma cystops Thomas, 1903 .............................................................................................................................. 9 Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774) .......................................................................................................... 15 Rhinolophus clivosus Cretzschmar, 1828 .................................................................................................................. 19 Rhinolophus horaceki Benda et Vallo, 2012 .............................................................................................................. 22 Rhinolophus mehelyi Matschie, 1901 ........................................................................................................................ 27 Asellia tridens (Geoffroy, 1813) ............................................................................................................................... 33 Myotis punicus Felten, 1977 ...................................................................................................................................... 37 Eptesicus isabellinus (Temminck, 1840) ................................................................................................................... 45 Pipistrellus hanaki Hulva et Benda, 2004 ................................................................................................................. 52 Pipistrellus kuhlii (Kuhl, 1817) ................................................................................................................................. 60 Vansonia rueppellii (Fischer, 1829) ........................................................................................................................... 81 Nyctalus lasiopterus (Schreber, 1780) ....................................................................................................................... 86 Nyctalus leisleri (Kuhl, 1817) ................................................................................................................................... 93 Otonycteris hemprichii Peters, 1859 .......................................................................................................................... 95 Plecotus gaisleri Benda, Kiefer, Hanák et Veith, 2004 ........................................................................................... 100 Plecotus christii Gray, 1838 .................................................................................................................................... 109 Miniopterus schreibersii (Kuhl, 1817) ..................................................................................................................... 112 Tadarida teniotis (Rafinesque, 1814) ....................................................................................................................... 117 Discussion and Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 125 Fauna ........................................................................................................................................................................ 125 Zoogeography .......................................................................................................................................................... 127 Ectoparasites ............................................................................................................................................................ 129 Acknowledgements ....................................................................................................................................................... 131 References ..................................................................................................................................................................... 132 Appendix I – Gazetteer .................................................................................................................................................. 145 Appendix II – List of the comparative material examined ............................................................................................ 147 Appendix III – Biometric data on the bats from Libya ................................................................................................. 154 INTRODUCTION The State of Libya (1,760,000 km2; Fig. 1) lies in the middle of the southern part of the Medi- terranean basin and in the middle of North Africa. It is the westernmost country which could be considered as a part of the Eastern Mediterranean, although only a small part of Libya belongs to this biogeographic region (some 2% of the country’s area). Most of the territory of Libya is covered by arid steppes and deserts of the Sahara, while only very limited areas along the Mediterranean Sea coast represent Mediterranean steppes and woodlands