New data on bats species diversity in National Park Narochansky (Belarus). Vestsi Natsyyanal ’nai akademii navuk Belarusi

The results of fauna study of National Park Narochansky (Minsk region) during the field seasons 2019-2020 are presented. We performed bat captures using mist nets and also surveyed settlements with an ultrasonic heterodyne detector. 177 specimens of 9 species were captured, specifically: Eptesicus nilssonii (Keyserling et Blasius, 1839), Myotis brandtii (Eversmann, 1845), M. dasycneme (Boie, 1825), M. daubentonii (Kuhl, 1817), Nyctalus noctula (Schreber, 1774), Plecotus auritus (Linnaeus, 1758), Pipistrellus nathusii (Keyserling et Blasius, 1839), P. pygmaeus (Leach, 1825), Vespertilio murinus (Linnaeus, 1758). 11 settlements of bats were discovered and mapped within the study area. According to the mist net captures, the dominant species is P. nathusii, with subdominant M. daubentoniid; andM. brandtii with P. auritus as the rarest species. Other species had represented ratios of 2.7 to 9.5 % in the nets captures. Species E. nilssonii andM. brandtii are only represented by male specimens. We also report the first registered discovery of Myotis brandtii on the territory of National Park Narochansky, which is also the most northern registration of that species in Belarus. In comparison to the previous studies, we have confirmed the presence of several species with previously questionable local status: P. auritus, M. brandtii, M. daubentonii and V. murinus.

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