BLACK AND ORANGE BAT.
This beautiful Bat presents a remarkable resemblance in coloration to another Eastern species (the Painted Bat), to which we shall presently refer; and, indeed, by some zoologists it has been placed in the same genus (Kerivoula) with the latter. Mr. Swinhoe, in his memoir on the Mammals of Formosa (Proc. Zoo. Soc., 1862, p. 357), refers to a species which he regards as allied to the Black and Orange Bat and the Painted Bat, but which was most probably the former, in the following terms:—“The body of this Bat was of an orange-brown, but the wings were painted with orange-yellow and black. It was caught, suspended head downwards, on a cluster of the round fruit of the Longan tree (Nephelium longanum). Now this tree is an evergreen, and all the year through some portion of its foliage is undergoing decay, the particular leaves being, in such a stage, partially orange and black. This Bat can therefore at all seasons suspend from its branches, and elude its enemies by its resemblance to the leaf of the tree. It was in August when this specimen was brought to me. It had at that season found the fruit ripe and reddish-yellow, and had tried to escape observation in the semblance of its own tints to those of the fruit.” This example of “protective mimicry,” if such is really its nature, is reproduced, as already stated, in the Painted Bat, and also, as remarked by Mr. Dobson, in Welwitsch’s Bat from Western Africa.
THE PAINTED BAT.[204]
A small group of Bats, nearly related to the preceding, is distinguished as forming a distinct genus under the name of Kerivoula, originally proposed and founded on a native Cingalese name by the late Dr. Gray. These Bats have the apertures of the nostrils perfectly circular; the first and second pre-molars in the upper jaw nearly as large as the third pre-molar, the ears large and funnel-shaped, the outer portion sweeping forward very much, and the spur of the heel long and stout, and curved backwards.
The Painted Bat (Kerivoula picta) has been already referred to as one of the species remarkable for their coloration. It is a small species, having the head and body only an inch and a half to an inch and three-quarters long. Its fur is of a deep orange colour above and paler beneath. The ears and interfemoral membrane, and the portions of membrane in front of the bones of the arm, are likewise deep orange, as are also the basal portions of the wing-membranes, broad bands bordering all the bones of the arms and fingers, and the hinder margin of the portions of membrane between the feet and the extremities of the fourth fingers, and the remainder of the wing-membranes being occupied by large triangular patches of deep black, more or less variegated with orange spots and streaks.
This remarkable Bat is found in many parts of the Peninsula of India, and also in Ceylon, Burmah, Sumatra, and Java; in fact, Mr. Dobson thinks that it is probably distributed in all parts of tropical Asia. It haunts the forests, and is very active in pursuit of insects. When disturbed in the day-time, according to Dr. Jerdon, it looks more like a Butterfly or a Moth than a Bat, and we may easily believe that the character and arrangement of its colours will give it an exceedingly un-batlike aspect. For its place of repose it selects the folded leaf of the plantain, and, according to Dr. Kelaart, its native Cingalese name of “Kehelvoulha” (from which the generic name is derived) signifies “Plantain Bat.” The other species of this genus present nothing remarkable.
THE HARPY BAT.[205]
The Harpiocephali are a curious group of Bats almost entirely confined to the Himalayan region, only two species being found elsewhere, namely, in the islands of Java and Sumatra, and one of these is also a Himalayan species. The most striking character of the genus is one which it displays in common with the Harpy Fruit Bat (Harpyia Pallasii) already described, namely, the remarkable prominence of the nostrils, which project in a tubular form on each side of the muzzle. These Bats are further distinguished by the hairiness of the upper surface of the interfemoral membrane, which is sometimes entirely, and never less than half covered with hair, the wing-membrane being also generally hairy for a greater extent than in other allied species.
SKULL OF HARPY BAT,
ENLARGED.