1899. Pteropus (Spectrum) hypomelanus (part), Matschie, Die Megachiroptera ... naturkunde, p. 24.
Specimens examined.—None.
Remarks.—Pteropus admiralitatum colonus is the largest of the three subspecies that occur in the Solomon Islands. It closely resembles P. hypomelanus luteus, except in being smaller throughout (see Andersen, 1912:151-152, for measurements) and darker on the underparts.
This bat has been found in a group of small islands (Alu, Mono, and Shortland) about 30 miles south of Bougainville. Because of this proximity and because yet another subspecies of this species occurs northward of Bougainville, it is interesting that neither Troughton (1936) nor Pohle (1953) included the species in their faunal lists for Bougainville.
Andersen (1912:152) indicated that the M1 in P. admiralitatum colonus is smaller than in P. a. solomonis, the subspecies found in islands to the southeast (4.4-4.5 and 5.2, respectively), but Sanborn (1931:13) studied specimens of these two subspecies that overlapped in size of M1.
Pteropus admiralitatum goweri Tate
1934. Pteropus goweri Tate, Amer. Mus. Novit., 718:1, May 4, type from Gower (Ndai) Island.
1954. Pteropus admiralitatum goweri, Laurie and Hill, List of land mammals of New Guinea, Celebes and adjacent islands, p. 33, June 30.
Specimens examined.—None.
Remarks.—Pteropus admiralitatum goweri was described from six specimens collected in 1930 by the Whitney South Sea Expedition (Tate, 1934:1). This subspecies closely resembles the other two subspecies of P. admiralitatum (colonus and solomonis) found in the Solomon Islands. Color and length of forearm (see key on [p. 793]) seem to be the only reliable criteria for distinguishing between these subspecies. The longitude of Gower Island, 160° 34' E, was incorrectly listed in Laurie and Hill (1954:152) as 159° 34' E.