Rousettus leschenaulti (Desmarest, 1820)

Kharkongor, Ilona Jacinta, Saikia, Uttam, Khynriam, Dimos & Saikia, Bhaskar, 2023, Current status of faunal diversity of Siju Cave, South Garo Hills, Meghalaya, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 123 (3), pp. 283-303 : 287

1. Rousettus leschenaulti (Desmarest, 1820)

1820. Pteropus leschanaulti Desmarest, Encycl. Meth. Mammal L : 110 (Environments of Pondicherry, India)

Material examined: 1 ♀ (juvenile), entrance of Siju cave ,

24.09.2018, D. Khynriam and party, V /M/ERS/496

Remarks: This individual was collected opportunistically near the cave entrance during the daytime in late September. Sinha (1999) reported a large series of specimens consisting of adult females and suckling from Siju Cave collected during August in the early nineties. However, during two surveys conducted by the authors in March 2018 and 2019, no colonies of this bat in the cave were recorded although Eo. spelaea was found to be common. It is possible that this species uses the Cave during the breeding period and females form maternity colonies as reported elsewhere by Krishna and Dominic (1985). The present population status remains uncertain.