Diclidurus ingens Hemândez- Camacho 1955

39. Greater Ghost Bat

Diclidurus ingens

French: Grande Diclidure / German: Grosse Gespenstfledermaus / Spanish: Dicliduro grande

Taxonomy. Diclidurus ingens Hemândez- Camacho, 1955,

“ Puerto Legufzamo, Intendencia del Caqueta [= Putumayo],” Colombia.

Diclidurus ingens is in the subgenus Diclidurus. Monotypic.

Distribution. Scattered localities from Colombia (Chocó and Putumayo departments) and adjacent Venezuela to Guyana, extending S to N & C Brazil (Para and Mato Grosso). Future research likely will extend distributional limits and establish occurrence in Peru and Ecuador.

Descriptive notes. Head-body c.83 mm, tail 22 mm, ear 14 mm, hindfoot 12 mm, forearm 67-9-71-9 mm; weight 20-26 g (most measurements are from a single specimen). Dorsal and ventral fur of the Greater Ghost Bat is composed of bicolored hairs that are cream to pale gray at bases and gray to blackish distally. Flight membranes are unpigmented and appear pinkish from heavy vascularization. Bare skin of face and ears also appears pinkish. Eyes are large and conspicuous, with dark brown irises. An inter-femoral sac is present along tail. P1 and P2 are not in contact, which is diagnostic. Presence of four lobes on the I2 of this species is diagnostic and unique among emballonurids.

Habitat. Vertically stratified primary and secondary evergreen forests and banana plantations from sea level to elevations of c.200 m.

Food and Feeding. Greater Ghost Bats prey on insects high in open spaces above rivers, streams, and lagoons and above forest canopies. They are attracted to concentrations of insects around streetlights in towns.

Breeding. No information.

Activity patterns. No information.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The only roosting record of the Greater Ghost Bat is of a solitary female hanging from the ceiling of a house in a suburban area in Colombia.

Status and Conservation. Classified as Data Deficient on The IUCN Red List. The Greater Ghost Bat is known from very few specimens and few locations. Information on distribution, status, and conservation threats is lacking.

Bibliography. Dalponte & Aguiar (2009), Eisenberg (1989), Emmons & eer (1997), Hood & Gardner (2008), Lim, B.K. et al. (1999), Mantilla-Meluk, Jiménez-Ortega, Palacios & Baker (2009), Ojasti & Linares (1971).