VAMPYRUS. 39 
short or (externally) absent. There are four upper and either two or four lower 
incisors. 
The accusation of blood-sucking, which has been preferred against most of the 
Phyllostomide, has caused the name Vampyrus to be applied to this genus. The 
observations of later travellers, however, especially those of Mr. Bates*, have com- 
pletely vindicated the character of the species, and shown that its diet is really 
principally vegetarian. 
Two well-marked species are known, their differences having been considered by 
Professor Peters to merit even genericdistinction. Both are members of our fauna; 
and they may readily be distinguished by the following characters :— 
1. V. spectrum. Tail absent; incisors ¢. Forearm 4-20. Fur reddish-brown 
above, reddish-yellow beneath. . 
2. V. auritus. ‘Tail short; incisors $. Forearm 3°35. Fur dark grizzled-brown 
above, paler greyish-brown beneath. 
1. Vampyrus spectrum. 
Vespertilio spectrum, Linnzeus, Syst. Nat. i. p. 46 (1766, ex Seba) *. 
Phyllostoma hastatum, Gray, Zool. Voy. ‘Sulphur,’ p. 19 (nec Pallas) °*. 
Vampyrus spectrum, Peters, Monatsb. Ak. Berl. 1865, p. 504°; Frantzius, Arch. f. Naturg. xxxv. 1, 
p-. 262*; Dobson, Cat. Chir. Brit. Mus. p. 470, pl. xxiv. fig. 3°. | 
Hab. GuatemMata®; Nicaragua, Realejo (Belcher, Mus. Brit.?°); Costa Rica, Lepanto 
(Frantzius & Hoffmann, Mus. Berol.*); Panama (M‘Leannan, Mus. Brit.)—West 
Inpies®; Gurana®; Brazi.®. 
The range of the Vampire Bat includes most of the northern portion of the 
Neotropical Region, extending to the West-Indian Islands. On the Upper Amazons 
Mr. Bates found it to be by far the most abundant of the Leaf-nosed Bats, frequenting 
villages and churches, and feeding, as was proved by the contents of their stomachs, 
on various fruits and sometimes on coleopterous insects f. To the northward the species 
extends to Central America. There are specimens from Panama and Nicaragua in 
the British Museum, the latter of which was erroneously referred to Phyllostoma has- 
tatum by Gray f. Dr. v. Frantzius says it is not uncommon in Costa Rica, but is con- 
fined to the hot regions near the coast; and Mr. Dobson tells me that he has seen 
examples from Guatemala, where, however, it is probably rare, there being no speci- 
mens in Mr. Salvin’s collections. , 
* ‘Naturalist on the Amazons,’ ii. pp. 332, 333. ¢ Ibid. ii. p. 332.. t Cf. infra, p. 42. 
