Megaloglossus woermanni Pagenstecher, 1885

Mongombe, Aaron Manga, Fils, Eric Moise Bakwo & Tamesse, Joseph Lebel, 2020, Annotated checklist of bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of Mount Cameroon, southwestern Cameroon, Zoosystema 42 (24), pp. 483-514 : 492-493

Megaloglossus woermanni Pagenstecher, 1885

( Fig. 5 , Table 3 )

Megaloglossus woermanni Pagenstecher, 1885: 128.

COMMON NAMES. — English: African Long-tongued Fruit Bats. French: Mégaloglosse de Woermann

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 118 specimens (including original data). Mount Cameroon area • 23 specimens; Isobi ; 4°07’15”N, 8°59’33”E; 56 m; Martin Eisentraut leg.; SMNS 8166, 8167, 47615, 6614 to 6623, ZFMK 1961. 0626, 0628 to 0635, 1969. 0454 • 6 specimens; Buea ; 4°09’00”N, 9°12’00”E; 1050 m; 9.I.1958; Martin Eisentraut leg.; SMNS 6608, ZFMK 1969.0482a to 0482e • 9 specimens; Mueli ; 4°23’00”N, 9°07’00”E; 600 m; 31.I-10.II.1958; Martin Eisentraut leg.; SMNS 6610 to 6613, ZFMK 1961.0636, 0637, 0191, 0627, 1963.0191 • 12 specimens; Victoria ; 4°00’46”N, 9°13’13”E; 136 m, 14.XII.1968; Martin Eisentraut leg; ZFMK 1969.0608, 0777a, 0777b, 0787a to 0787f, 1973.0378 to 0380 .

Other localities of Cameroon • 1♀; Nyasoso ; 4°49’42”N, 9°40’55”E; 1078 m; 10.I.1954; Martin Eisentraut leg; SMNS 5119 • 2 speci- mens; Bitye ; 3°01’00”N, 12°22’00”E; 616 m; Rosenberg leg.; ZMB 33340, 033341 • 2 specimens; Bipindi ; 3°05’00”N, 10°25’00”E; 184 m; Kathke & Zenker Georg August leg.; ZMB 38959, 40162 . Equatorial guinea • 1 ♂; San Carlos; ZFMK 1964.0349 .

ORIGINAL DATA. — 62 individuals (41 males and 21 females) of the long-tongued fruit bat were netted during our field surveys ( Table 1 ). This specialist nectar and pollen eater was mostly captured in low altitude disturbed and cultivated habitats, though 11 individuals were also netted in undisturbed lowland forest and one in montane scrub ( Table 1 ). The species had previously been documented on Mount Cameroon ( Eisentraut 1963, 1973; Hayman & Hill 1971; Fedden & MacLeod 1986).

HABITATS AND DISTRIBUTION. — This species is widespread in Central Afri ca but marginal to Southern Africa. According to Bergmans (1997), it typically inhabits lowland tropical rainforest, although it has also been recorded from swamp forest, Mangrove forest and mosaic forest-grassland habitats where it commonly forages in cultivated area adjacent to forest.

REMARK. — Recent studies based on molecular analyses revealed that Megaloglossus woermanni from the Upper Guinea Forest are highly divergent from those of the Congo Basin Forest. Upper Guinean forest specimens formerly included in Megaloglossus woermanni are now placed in a distinct species, Megaloglossus azagnyi , sp. nov. ( Nesi et al. 2013).

Figures

FIG. 5. — Megaloglossus woermanni Pagenstecher, 1885. Photo: © Aaron Manga Mongombe.