1897.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 227 



A NEW SOUTHEASTERN RACE OF THE LITTLE BROWN BAT. 

 BY SAMUEL N. RHOADS. 



In my "Contributions to the Mammalogy of Florida " l occurs the 

 first, and, so far as I am aware, the only record of Vespertilio luci- 

 fugus (=" V. gryphus "?) from the extreme southeastern section of 

 the United States. The series in question included six specimens 

 in alcohol and two carefully prepared dry skins, with skulls and 

 field measurements taken by the collector, Mr. W. S. Dickinson, 

 from the animals before skinning. Their identification was made 

 by Dr. Harrison Allen from the alcoholic specimens only. 



Recently, in overhauling and labelling my collection, I made a 

 more careful examination of this series. In consequence I find it 

 necessary to separate the Florida form as a very distinct subspecies 

 under the following name and diagnosis : 



Vespertilio lucifugus austroriparius, Subsp. nov. Southeastern Little Brown Bat. 



Type, No. 878, ad. 9 , Collection of S. N. Rhoads. Collected by 

 W. 8. Dickinson, June 23, 1892, at Tarpon Springs, Florida. 



Description of type. — Smaller than lucifugus of N. Carolina and 

 northward. Fur very short, fine and dense, about half as long as 

 in New York specimens taken in the same season. Color above 

 uniform, dull, dark brown, inclining to smoke-brown or dark choc- 

 olate as contrasted with the normal glossy, tawny and umber browns 

 of northern specimens. Below brownish-cinereous, becoming lighter 

 posteriorly and edged by a conspicuous margin of tawny white at 

 the junction of wing membranes with lower half of body. Upper 

 body fur slightly darker basally for \ to # its length, the difference 

 in shade between the brown-black of basal portion and the smoky- 

 brown of terminal third of hairs only to be distinguished by close 

 scrutiny. In lucifugus the contrast between these parts is conspicu- 

 ous. On the lower parts this contrast is equally marked in both 

 forms. 



In the characters of the skull, save in the diminished size of aus- 

 troriparius, I can detect no marked differences. The latter, how- 



^roc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1894, p. 157. 



