Rhinolophus euryale, Blasius, 1853

Burgin, Connor, 2019, Rhinolophidae, Handbook of the Mammals of the World – Volume 9 Bats, Barcelona: Lynx Edicions, pp. 280-332 : 288-289

16 . Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat

Rhinolophus euryale

French: Rhinolophe euryale / German: Mittelmeer-Hufeisennase / Spanish: Herradura mediterrànea

Taxonomy. Rhinolophus euryale Blasius, 1853 ,

Milan , Italy .

Rhinolophus euryale is in the euryale species group, which seems to be close to the other African species groups ( landeri , capensis , fumigatus , ferrumequinum , and maclaudi groups) and the xinanzhongguoensis group from China. These groups form a large Afro-Palearctic clade, although phylogenetic relationships in this clade are still unresolved. Following P. Benda and colleagues in 2006, subspecies judaicus is best treated under R mehelyi based on morphometric comparisons including the type specimen that clearly represented R mehelyi . Populations of R euryale from the Levant region seem to represent a separate unnamed subspecies; additional research is needed to clarify this. Monotypic.

Distribution. S Europe (from Iberian Peninsula and C & S France to entire Balkan Peninsula, including Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Rhodes I, and isolated areas in S Slovakia and N Hungary), N Africa (N Morocco, N Algeria, and Tunisia), and SW Asia ( Turkey, Caucasus, Levant region, N & W Iran, and N Iraq). Possibly also Cyprus (known from a single specimen regarded as Mehely’s Horseshoe Bat, R mehelyi , by most authors) and Turkmenistan.

Descriptive notes. Head—body 43—58 mm, tail 22—30 mm, ear 17—27 mm, hindfoot 9—11 mm, forearm 43—51 mm; weight 7-5—17- 5 g. The Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat is very difficult to distinguish from Mehely’s Horseshoe Bat. Dorsal pelage is grayish brown, with slight reddish, lilac, or yellowish tinge (hairs are whitish with grayish brown tips); ventral pelage is paler to much paler, although it is never close to white.Juveniles are gray. There is no orange morph. Males lack axillary tufts. Ears are short (c.42% of forearm length). Noseleaf has straight-sided subtriangular lancet, with blundy pointed tip; connecting process is narrow, forward curving, and pointed at tip; sella is naked, rounded, and tilted forward and has almost parallel sides and broad top; horseshoe is narrow at 6-5—7- 5 mm and does not completely cover muzzle, having no lateral leaflets and shallow median emargination. Lower lip has three distinct grooves. Wings and uropatagium are pale brown. Skull is delicately built, with subequal zygomatic and mastoid widths; rostrum is narrow, and nasal swellings are relatively low; frontal depression is shallow; supraorbital crests are poorly developed, and sagittal crest is absent or very low; bar between infraorbital foramen and orbit is short and broad, and infraorbital foramen is small. P2 is small but in tooth row, separating C 1 and P4; P3 is very small and only somewhat displaced labially, separating P2 and P4. Chromosomal complement has 2n = 58 and FNa = 60.

Habitat. Various Mediterranean and sub-Mediterranean shrublands and woodlands from sea level to elevations of c. 1360 m. Mediterranean Horseshoe Bats seem to prefer habitats with broadleaf woodlands and riparian vegetation for foraging in Italy and avoid coniferous forests and shrublands in Italy. They are often associated with edge habitats in Spain, including hedgerows, woodland edges, and isolated trees. They are recorded in Mediterranean sclerophyllous forest, sub-Mediterranean semi-desert grassland and shrubland, and edge habitats throughout northern Africa. They are often found in limestone areas, with many caves and nearby water sources.

Food and Feeding. The Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat feeds by slow hawking, flycatching, and probably gleaning off of vegetation and the ground. After prey has been captured, it is generally taken to night roosts to be eaten. Mediterranean Horseshoe Bats seem to feed primarily on lepidopterans throughout their distribution and at all times of the year, generally favoring small- to medium-sized moths (5-11 mm and 25- 40 mm long, respectively) over larger moths. They are also known to eat dipterans (especially Tipulidae and brachycerans), coleopterans, hymenopterans, neuropterans, trichopterans, and psocopterans in smaller quantities and varying amounts depending on prey availability. In Spain, lepidopterans made up 68-99% of diets throughout the year and during and after lactation. Scarabaeid beedes (Rhizotrogus) also made up a variably but important food source (especially before breeding). Fecal samples from northern Algeria found that dipterans made up 29% of diets, and lepidopterans were only 19-1%; chilopods were also eaten (3-8%). In autumn and early winter in southern Slovakia and northern Hungary, moths remained the most important dietary item, being the only food source identified and only a single species recorded in fecal samples ( Colotois pennaria , Geometridae ).

Breeding. Mediterranean Horseshoe Bats are seasonally monoestrous and probably have delayed fertilization. Breeding probably occurs before hibernation, although there is only limited information regarding reproductive habits. Gestation lasts c.90 days. Births occur in summer (June-July) in Europe, and litter size is one. Males reach sexual maturity between 15 months and 2-2 years; females take 2—3 years. They reportedly live C.13 years.

Activity patterns. Mediterranean Horseshoe Bats roost most often in large caves, but they have been found in buildings in Europe. They stay further in caves in summer and closer to entrances during winter hibernation. Night roosts are generally where individuals can hang and rest or consume prey, such as groves of trees. Mediterranean Horseshoe Bats are nocturnal. They spend the day roosting and leave late in the evening to forage at night They are highly maneuverable and fly relatively slow, being able to hover for short periods of time. They hibernate in winter in deep torpor but frequentiy arise and leave roosts to forage. Winter foraging is limited by temperature and might result in foraging on moths in roost caves, although this has yet to be confirmed. Reports from the Iberian Peninsula show that foraging occurred an average of 1-3 km (at most 4- 2 km) from roosts; lactating females foraged an average of 4- 3 km (at most 9- 2 km) from roosts; and males foraged much closer to their roosts, averaging 1 -9 km. After young are no longer lactating, adults traveled an average of 4-6 km from roosts to forage;juveniles only traveled an average of 2-6 km. Call shape is FM/ CF /FM, with mean F component of 104-8 kHz in Greece, 104-106 kHz in Bulgaria, 102-3 kHz across France, 100-104 kHz in Italy, and 102-4 kHz in Tunisia, generally 100-109 kHz. Mean call duration was 53-8 milliseconds in Greece, and mean interpulse interval was 84-5 milliseconds in Greece. Males and females can recognize sex of conspecifics by their echolocation calls.

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Although mosdy sedentary, Mediterranean Horseshoe Bats are known to travel relatively short distances (0-5-16- 7 km in the Carpathian region) between summer (maternity) and winter (hibernating) roosts. Longest recorded movement is 134 km in Europe. They roost in colonies of up to 2000 individuals during winter hibernation and then segregate into smaller maternity colonies of 50-400 individuals in summer. Males usually create their own roosts in summer but are occasionally found with females in maternity colonies. In spring, males and females roost together, and roosts of up to 200 individuals have been recorded in Algeria. Colonies of Mediterranean Horseshoe Bats usually group in small clusters and will hang in contact with one another when active, although torpid individuals generally do not touch other bats. They have been reported sharing roosts with other species of Rhinolophus, Rhinopoma , Plecotus , Myotis , and Miniopterus .

Status and Conservation. Classified as Near Threatened on The IUCN Red List. Although the Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat has a wide distribution, its overall population is considered to be declining. It is stable and common in central and eastern Balkans but declining in Portugal and Italy, where populations are already small. In France, populations declined by c.70% from 1940 to 1980, although trends seem to have stabilized after the 1980s. Large population declines have also been reported in Spain, and the Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat appears to be extirpated in Gibraltar and Switzerland. Caves in Iran that once had thousands of individuals (20,000 bats of various species) just 30 years ago now have no bats, indicating the Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat is also declining outside of Europe. Major threats seem to be general habitat destruction from urbanization and intensive agriculture. Habitat fragmentation and roost destruction are also prevalent threats. Use of organochlorine pesticides is thought to have been a contributing factor to the major decline in France. The Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat is protected throughout Europe by national legislation and is Annex II and IV on the EU Habitats and Species Directive.

Bibliography. ACR (2018), Ahmim & Moali (2013), Aihartza, Garin et al. (2003), Al-Sheikhly, Haba, Görföl & Csorba (2015), Benda, Andreas et al. (2006), Benda, Faizolâhi et al. (2012), Benda, Hanâk et al. (2007), Benda, LuCan et al. (2010), Brasset et al. (1988), Csorba et al. (2003), DeBlase (1972), Gaisler (2013a), Goiti, Aihartza, Almenar et al. (2006), Goiti, Aihartza & Garin (2004), Goiti, Aihartza, Garin & Zabala (2003), Goiti, Garin et al. (2008), Horéóek et al. (2008), Hutterer étal. (2005), ibânez (1999), Juste & Alcalde (2016a), Koselj & Kryâtufek (1999), Mikové et al. (2013), Russo, Almenar et al. (2005), Russo, Jones & Migliozzi (2002), Russo, Jones & Mucedda (2001), Salsamendi et al. (2006), Siemers & Ivanova (2004), Stoffberg et al. (2010), Szekely et al. (2015), Turni & Kock (2008),Tuttle & Stevenson (1982), Uhrin étal. (2012).

Figures

On following pages: 4. Lander's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus landeri); 5. Guinean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus guineensis); 6. Blasius's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus blasii); 7. Peters's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus lobatus); 8. Swinny's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus swinnyi); 9. Cape Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus capensis); 10. Gorongosa Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus gorongosae); 11. Roberts's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus rhodesiae); 12. Bushveld Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus simulato/); 13. Dent's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus denti); 14. Cameroon Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus alticolus); 15. Mehely's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mehelyi); 16. Mediterranean Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus euryale); 17. Hildebrandt's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus hildebrandtii); 18. Mount Mabu Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mabuensis); 19. Cohen's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus cohenae); 20. Smithers's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus smithersi); 21. Mozambican Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus mossambicus); 22. Rüppell's Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus fumigatus); 23. Eloquent Horseshoe Bat (Rhinolophus Bloquons).

Distribution. S Europe (from Iberian Peninsula and C & S France to entire Balkan Peninsula, including Corsica , Sardinia, Sicily, Rhodes I, and isolated areas in S Slovakia and N Hungary ), N Africa (N Morocco , N Algeria , and Tunisia ), and SW Asia ( Turkey , Caucasus, Levant region, N & W Iran , and N Iraq ). Possibly also Cyprus (known from a single specimen regarded as Mehely’s Horseshoe Bat, R mehelyi , by most authors) and Turkmenistan .