Pied Butterfly Bat

Glauconycteris superba Hayman 1939

Glauconycteris superba Hayman, 1939 New material. Mes 26, ♂ (adult), 27 November 2022, swamp open canopy forest, Mba’a village , buffer zone of DBR, 3°47.71'N, 12°49.52'E, elevation 665 m a. s. l. This is the first record of the species from Cameroon (Fig. 11 A) . The Cytb sequence showed a 99 % similarity with a specimen of G. superba from DRC (Hassanin et al. 2018: MF 038552) and is available in GenBank (PZ 458541) (Suppl. material 1). Status and distribution. Although only known previously from seven localities in Africa (Monadjem et al. 2024; Torrent et al. 2025 a), G. superba is listed as LC (Least Concern) by the IUCN Red List based on its wide distribution (Monadjem et al. 2017 a). The new locality lies equidistant between two West African records from Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire and the four records from central Africa in DRC and South Sudan (ACR 2024; Monadjem et al. 2024). It complements the new record from ‘ Monte Alen’ National Park in mainland Equatorial Guinea (Torrent et al. 2025 a). Description of new material. This is the largest species of Glauconycteris (FA: 46.0 mm; Tables 2, 3). The dark brown / black and creamy-white pelage of the Cameroon specimen (Fig.

An integrated taxonomic and conservation assessment of Glauconycteris (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) in Cameroon, with the description of two new species from the Northwestern Congolian Lowland Forest

conservation

Conservation: IUCN 2003 and IUCN / SSC Action Plan (2001) – Vulnerable as Chalinolobus superbus.

Order Chiroptera - Family Vespertilionidae

discussion

Discussion: Although sheila is sometimes recognized as a subspecies, it might represent only a color variant (Rosevear, 1965; J. Fahr, pers. comm.).

Order Chiroptera - Family Vespertilionidae

activity

Activity patterns. Pied Butterfly Bats emitted calls alternating between two distinct frequencies, with the following values from DR Congo: type A, minimum frequencies of 20 - 5 - 25 - 1 kHz, maximum frequencies of 29.1 - 57 kHz, and durations of 3 - 1 - 9 - 6 milliseconds, and type B, minimum frequencies of 27 - 3 - 31 - 3 kHz, maximum frequencies of 38 - 8 - 73 - 3 kHz, and durations of 4 - 10 - 1 milliseconds.

Vespertilionidae