52 



NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA 75 



Trachops cirrhosus 

 Fringe-lipped Bat 



Fringe-lipped bats are found from Oaxaca and Veracruz, Mexico, to Brazil 

 (Fig. 37). The nominate subspecies is found throughout Costa Rica, and extends 

 southward into South America. 



This is a bat of forested regions, and is known to frequent streams and swampy 

 areas (Tuttle 1970). Caves, houses, culverts, and hollow trees are used as roosting 

 sites (Handley 1966). In addition to feeding on insects and lizards, these bats are 

 specialists on frogs (Tuttle and Ryan 1981). The reproductive cycle is poorly known. 



The fringe-lipped bat first was recorded from Costa Rica by Davis and Carter 

 (1962), who captured a single female in Guanacaste. Starrett and Casebeer (1968) 

 added numerous specimens from the Pacific versant. Gardner et al. (1970) reported 

 the first specimen from La Selva. We have netted individuals infrequently at La 

 Selva over the years. The specimen from Parque Nacional Braulio Carrillo was 

 taken in a mist net over a small stream in an old clearing. One species of bat fly, 

 an undescribed Trichobius closely related to T. ethophalalus (1 male, 1 female), 

 was collected from a single T. cirrhosus at La Selva. 



Specimens examined (5)— Finca La Selva, 3 km S of Puerto Viejo, 70 m 

 [2 males, 1 sex ?, MSB]; 1 km S, 11.5 km E of San Miguel, 680 m [1 male, 

 USNM]; 3.5 km S, 11.5 km E of San Miguel, 1,000 m [1 female, UNA]. 



Vampyrum spectrum 

 False Vampire Bat 



False vampire bats are found from Veracruz, Mexico, to southwestern Brazil 

 (Fig. 38). The species is monotypic. 



Although these predatory bats normally occur in small numbers in primary 

 forest, they have been recorded from a wide variety of habitats (Navarro L. and 

 Wilson 1982). Vehrencamp et al. (1977) studied food habits of a pair of false vam- 

 pire bats found using a hollow tree roost in Guanacaste Province by studying re- 

 mains of prey species. They documented predation on a variety of small birds and 

 speculated on foraging behavior. Other prey items include rodents, other bats, and 

 possibly large insects (Bradbury 1983b; McCarthy 1987). Details of the reproduc- 

 tive cycle are unknown. 



The first Costa Rican specimen of Vampyrum spectrum was taken at Lepanto 

 on the Nicoya Peninsula by a German physician. Dr. Carl Hoffmann, who had 

 moved to Costa Rica in 1858. Casebeer et al. (1963) captured the first specimen 

 from La Selva and the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica in 1961. We captured 

 an adult female in primary forest at La Selva in July 1973, and an adult male and 

 lactating female there on 8 July 1974. Additionally, Levey (in litt.) captured one 

 on the path just over the Sura bridge at 2330 h on 5 August 1981, and Reid (in 

 litt.) captured a female near the field station on 7 December 1988. In Parque 

 Nacional Braulio Carrillo, we caught a single adult female in a mist net set on 

 a ridgetop trail in good forest above the Rio Cantarrana at 300 m. She made several 

 passing flights near a cloth bag containing other live bats before becoming en- 



