GREATER HORSESHOE BAT.
These curious structures are found with slight variations in all the species of the genus Rhinolophus, to which this Bat belongs. The nasal appendages vary somewhat in the form and proportions of their parts, and the basal lobe, or antitragus of the ears, is developed in different degrees in various species, but their general character is always recognisable. Other marks by which the species of this genus may be recognised are the presence of three joints in the first toe, the others possessing only two, and the dentition, which includes the full number of teeth developed in the family, namely, incisors, 24, canines, 1–11–1, pre-molars, 2–23–3, molars, 3–33–3.
The Greater Horseshoe Bat lives chiefly in deserted quarries, old buildings, and natural caverns, and is said to frequent the darkest and most inaccessible parts of such excavations. Thus, Montagu found it in company with the smaller species next to be described, in “Kent’s Hole,” near Torquay, “a retreat,” says Mr. Bell, “so dark and gloomy, that no other species, even of this lucifugal family, were found to frequent it.” In such retreats it passes the winter in a torpid state, coming forth in the spring to prey upon the insects which constitute its sole nourishment. It is said often to feed upon chafers, but to eat only the body. That it does not disdain smaller game, however, appears from Pennant’s record of its original discovery in England by Dr. Latham, who obtained it at Dartford, in Kent, where, says Pennant, “they are found in greatest numbers in the saltpetre houses belonging to the powder-mills; and frequent them during the evening for the sake of the Gnats which swarm there. They have also been found during winter, in a torpid state, clinging to the roof.” Mr. James Salter, in a communication to Mr. Bell, mentions his having caught one of these Bats on the 29th of September, 1865, in so appropriate a locality as the “haunted room” at Tomson Manor House, Dorsetshire. It was flitting about the room when he went to bed, having entered by an open window. “On the next three nights, which were still and calm,” he says, “I saw numbers of (apparently) the same Bats flying around the house among a grove of sycamores. The flight was low, short, and sluggish, both in the room and out of doors.”
This Bat suckles its young, after the usual fashion of Bats, at the two pectoral teats. Several authors, and among others Geoffroy, have maintained that the Horseshoe Bat, and indeed all the species of the family to which it belongs, possess, besides the ordinary pectoral teats, a second pair situated on the groin. This, however, is not the case, for the nipple-like appendages situated on the groin in the females of this group have been proved to have no connection with any mammary glands.
In England the Greater Horseshoe Bat has been found in various localities in the southern counties. Besides Dartford, where it was originally discovered in this country, Mr. Bell mentions Margate, Rochester, and Bristol Cathedrals, Colchester, caverns at Clifton, and the Undercliff of the Isle of Wight. On the continent of Europe it inhabits the whole of the southern and central parts from Spain and Portugal in the west, to Greece and Turkey in the east, extending northwards as far as central Germany and southern Russia. In Asia it is found in Syria and Asia Minor, and ranges thence eastwards to Nepaul and Mussooree; whilst in Africa it appears to stretch from Algeria to the Cape of Good Hope. Over this wide range, as might be expected, the species does not always display precisely the same characters, and variations of greater or less importance have led to the establishment of supposed distinct species; amongst others, the Japanese Rhinolophus nippon is regarded by Mr. Dobson as identical with our Greater Horseshoe Bat.
THE LESSER HORSESHOE BAT.[167]
The Lesser Horseshoe Bat, the second British species of this genus, was formerly regarded only as a small variety of the preceding, and was first distinguished by Colonel Montagu, who also first detected its occurrence in England. It is about half an inch shorter than the Greater Horseshoe Bat, and its expanse of wing is about nine inches. In general aspect it resembles the larger species. The fur is equally soft and full, and of the same colours, except that the upper surface is a little browner, and the lower parts rather more tinged with yellow. In the ears the transverse furrows are scarcely perceptible, and the basal lobe is rather larger in proportion. There are also some small, but constant, peculiarities in the structure of the nasal appendages. The central leaf is less prominent and less cupped at the base than in R. ferrum-equinum; the frontal leaf is lance-shaped, and not much dilated at the sides towards the base; and the outer margin of the horseshoe is slightly crenulated (see [figure]).
HEAD OF LESSER
HORSESHOE BAT.