Remarks.—Kolombangara Island is a new locality for Pteropus rayneri rubianus; heretofore this subspecies was known only from Rubiana and Narovo islands (Andersen, 1908:366; Sanborn, 1931:15). The coloration of a specimen from Narovo Island was described as between that of P. r. rubianus and P. r. lavellanus. Sanborn (1931:16) allocated it to the subspecies rubianus on the basis of length of forearm.
Andersen's descriptions (1908:366; 1912:256) of rubianus were of a specimen stored in alcohol. Coloration of the museum skins examined by me is as follows: Dorsum from shoulders to rump near Vandyke Brown; crown and mantle Brick Red; face close to Mummy Brown; rump patch and thighs close to Warm Buff, strongly contrasting with back and mantle; base of hairs dark, Seal Brown; venter dark; chest about same as back but paler laterally (to Ochraceous Tawny); throat Brick Red.
Pteropus rayneri lavellanus Andersen
1908. Pteropus lavellanus Andersen, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 8, 2:366, October, type from Vella Lavella; 1912, Andersen, Catalogue of the Chiroptera ... British Museum, 1:259; 1931, Sanborn, Publ. Field Mus. Nat. Hist., Zool. Ser., 18:16, February 12, from Ghizo and Ronongo.
1954. Pteropus rayneri lavellanus, Laurie and Hill, List of land mammals of New Guinea, Celebes and adjacent islands, p. 36, June 30.
Specimens examined (one male and one female).—Vella Lavella in November, 23192, 23142.
Measurements.—Measurements of a male and a female are, respectively, as follows: Length of head and body, 286, 282; hind foot, 55, 56; ear, 30, 30; length of forearm, 156, 155; greatest length of skull, 72.9, 67.6; condylobasal length, 71.8, 64.2; zygomatic breadth, 38.4, 37.9; breadth across first upper molars, 19.9, 19.8; length of mandible, 54.6, 50.8.
Remarks.—Pteropus rayneri lavellanus inhabits islands geographically near those from which P. r. rubianus is known (see [Fig. 6]) and in most respects the two subspecies closely resemble each other. P. r. lavellanus is slightly the smaller (average length of forearm about 156 instead of 160) and darker. A bat from Narovo [Simbo] Island, only a few miles from Vella Lavella, identified by Sanborn (1931:16) on basis of its size as P. r. rubianus, resembled the subspecies lavellanus in color and probably represents an intergrade between the two populations.
The color of P. r. lavellanus is close to that of P. r. rubianus except that the crown, mantle, and foreneck are near Chestnut-Brown, the basal portions of hair black, and the fur of the venter, from sternum to pectoral region, is dark, almost black (compare with description of P. r. rubianus under account of that subspecies).
Measurements of the male examined are greater than those of the female studied. Andersen (1912:259) noted that the canine teeth are heavier in males than in females.