174 PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM vol. no 



North America," and Smith (1934, p. 63) up to eight or ten per bat, 

 mostly in the ears, on specimens from Kansas and Oklahoma. 



Wingless parasitic flies of the family Nycteribiidae (Basilia antrozoi 

 Townsend and Basilia corynorhini Ferris) (Stiles and Nolan, 1931, 

 p. 715) seem to be generally less common on P. townsendii, although 

 Dalquest (1947, p. 30) found up to five per bat in California and 

 Krutzsch (1955, p. 458) up to two or three per bat in "western North 

 America." 



Sprague (1938, p. 500) reported mites on specimens from Oldahoma, 

 and Ki-utzsch (1955, p. 458) found up to eight or nine mites of the 

 genus Ichoronyssus per bat on the membranes of specimens from 

 "western North America." 



One of four California specimens of P. townsendii examined by 

 Mitchell (1956, p. 444) was infected with Trypanosoma vespertilionis. 



Twente (1955a, p. 387) discovered a possibly diseased specimen 

 of P. townsendii in a cavern in Kansas on 31 October. It was a fat 

 male, and although it had a rectal temperature of 93.9° F. it was 

 very feeble and was unable to fly. A week later it was found dead. 



Food: Apparently no one has observed P. townsendii engaged in 

 its normal feeding activity. Little is loiown of its food habits. 

 Hamilton (1943, p. 104) reported that all specimens that he had 

 examined contained only the remains of Lepidoptera. Pearson, 

 et al. (1952, p. 317) believed that P. townsendii eats moths and other 

 insects (probably mostly flying insects) . In stomachs of P. townsendii 

 and Myotis velifer hibernating together in an Oklahoma cave, Sprague 

 (1938, p. 500) found remains of insects and hairs of both species 

 of bats. Inasmuch as the bats were heavily parasitized with bat 

 flies (Streblidae), Sprague supposed that the bats might be feeding 

 on the parasites. Twente (1955b, p. 713) observed no evidence 

 of feeding among hibernating populations that he studied in Oldahoma 

 and Kansas. 



Pearson, et al. (1952, p. 274) found it diflicult to induce captive big- 

 eared bats to feed themselves. The bats were offered mealworms, 

 supplemented occasionally by percomorph oil. Most could be taught 

 in a day or so to accept decapitated mealworms forced into their 

 mouths. Self -feeding was encouraged by stringing mealworms on 

 wires along the sides of the cage. Some individuals eventuafly learned 

 to eat worms from a dish, although many had to be hand fed through- 

 out their captivity. As many as 40 mealworms might be taken daily. 

 The most successful captives were ones that had learned to feed them- 

 selves and were kept in a cage large enough to permit flight. However, 

 pregnant individuals, even though eating well, aborted or resorbed 

 theu- embryos. The maximum period of survival in captivity was 

 about six months. Some individuals survived without food when kept 



