Harvey, Michael J.

McDaniel, V. Rick

English

UARK (University of Arkansas )

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science Volume 37 Article 31 1983 Status of the Bat Myotis keenii in the Arkansas Ozarks Michael J. Harvey Memphis State University V. Rick McDaniel Arkansas State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas  Part of the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons, and the Zoology Commons Recommended Citation Harvey, Michael J. and McDaniel, V. Rick (1983) "Status of the Bat Myotis keenii in the Arkansas Ozarks," Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science: Vol. 37 , Article 31. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol37/iss1/31 This article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able to read, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu. Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol. XXXVII,1983 89General NotesMACKLIN, J. M., and C. COOK. 1967. New records of KentuckyOdonata. Proc. North Central Branch Ent. Soc. Amer. 22:120-121.MONTGOMERY, B.E. 1967. Geographical distribution ofthe Odonataof the North Central States. Proc. NorthCentral Branch Ent. Soc.Amer. 22:121-129.NEEDHAM,J. G., and H.B.HEYWOOD. 1929. Ahandbook ofthedragonflies ofNorthAmerica. C.C. Thomas. Springfield, 111. 386pp.WALKER, E. M. 1953. The Odonata of Canada and Alaska. Vol. 1.Univ.of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 292 pp.GEORGE L.HARP, Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, State University, AR 72467.STATUS OF THE BATMyotis keenii INTHE ARKANSAS OZARKSkKeen's bat, Myotis keenii, occurs in two disjunct ranges in North America. The western subspecies, M.k.keenii, is found from Alaska southget Sound in Washington. The eastern race, M. k. septentrionalis, ranges from Saskatchewan to Newfoundland and south tonorthern Floridaiand Shump, 1979).Ithas been suggested by van Zyllde Jong (1979), based on a study of Canadian specimens, that M. k.keenii and M. k. septentrionalis aredistinct species. Inthat case, the Arkansas form would take the name M.septentrionalis. At this time it is notclear whether or not this separationwill be accepted. Therefore, we utilize the name M. k. septentrionalis for the Arkansas form.Myotis keenii is a medium-sized Myotis with long ears (17-19 mm) and a narrow pointed tragus. The forearm measures 32-39 mm and thewingspan is 228-258 mm; the calcar is not keeled (Barbour and Davis, 1969). Color varies somewhat but the body is usually brownish to reddish-brown above and gray below. The fur is not glossy.Myotis keenii hibernate in caves or mines during the winter where they usually select relatively cool sites, often near cave entrances. Theyoften hang singly and seem to prefer tight crevices and holes. They are never abundant; concentrations of 100 or more ina single cave or mineare unusual (Barbour and Davis, 1969). During summer they roost in a variety of shelters includingunder the bark of trees, behind shutters, andin buildings. They appear to be relatively solitary in their habits, except for small maternity colonies formed during summer.InArkansas, M. keenii is widelydistributed throughout the InteriorHighlands. Sealander (1979) considered it to be "relativelyuncommon"in Arkansas and reported it fromBenton, Washington, Newton, Baxter, Stone, and Independence counties inthe Ozarks and fromPike and Garlandcounties inthe Ouachitas. During a recent study in eastern Missouri, Caire et al. (1979) reported that 141 trips to 77 caves between October 1975and April1976 resulted in locating only39 M. keenii. However, as many as 460 individuals were captured at a single Missouri cave entrance duringone night in June.Since 1968, wehave recorded M.keenii from 15 caves inseven Arkansas Ozark counties, the same six counties reported bySealander (1979),and also from Marion County. Usually 1-3 and not more than 6M. keenii were seen in any one cave. They were found inrelatively large numbersin onlyone cave, Cave Mountain Cave inNewton County. During the winter of1973-74 we estimated 200 tobe present there and during the winterof 1977-78 we found ca. 100 (we did not visit the cave during the intervening years). Since the winter of 1977-78, Cave Mountain Cave has beenchecked yearly and less than 10 M.keenii have been observed there each winter. However, itis important to pointout that because of their preferencefor cracks and holes in the cave ceiling, they could easily be overlooked.INetting at cave entrances during the summer-autumn swarming period indicates that this species is more abundant in the Arkansas Ozarksindicated byobservations ofhibernating bats incaves and mines. Asmany as 40M.keenii have been netted at the entrance ofCave Mountain. However, that number is greater than at most caves netted, where the number captured during any one night is usually less than 10.iCaveMountain Cave, located on Buffalo National River lands, from which the largest numbers of M.keenii have been reported in Arkansas,recently (1982) fenced by the National Park Service to protect the endangered Indiana bats (M. sodatis) and gray bats (M. grisescens) thatnate there from human disturbance. Hopefully, the protection of this cave from disturbance during the hibernation period will result in anase in the numbers of M. sodalis, M. grisescens, and M. keenii that hibernate there.LITERATURE CITEDBARBOUR, R. W., and W. H. DAVIS. 1969. Bats of America.Univ.Kentucky Press, Lexington. 286 p.SEALANDER, J. A.1979. Aguide to Arkansas mammals. River RoadPress, Conway, Arkansas. 313 p.rRE, W., R. K.LAVAL,M.L.LAVAL,and R. CLAWSON. 1979.Notes on the ecology ofMyotis keenii (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)in eastern Missouri. Amer. Midi.Nat. 102:404-407.VAN ZYLL DE JONG, C. G. 1979. Distribution and systematicrelationships oflong-earned Myotis in western Canada. CanadianJ. Zool., 57-987-994.FITCH, J. H., and K.A. SHUMP, Jr. 1979. Myotiskeenii. Mamm.Species 12:1-3.MICHAELJ. HARVEY,Ecological Research Center, Department of Biology,Memphis State University, Memphis, TN38152, and V. RICKMCDANIEL,Department of BiologicalScience, Arkansas State University, State University, AR 72467.89Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 37 [1983], Art. 31Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1983

Status of the Bat Myotis keenii in the Arkansas Ozarks

ScholarWorks@UARK

Journal of the Arkansas Academy of ScienceVolume 37 Article 311983Status of the Bat Myotis keenii in the ArkansasOzarksMichael J. HarveyMemphis State UniversityV. Rick McDanielArkansas State UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaasPart of the Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology Commons, and the Zoology CommonsThis article is available for use under the Creative Commons license: Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0). Users are able toread, download, copy, print, distribute, search, link to the full texts of these articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking priorpermission from the publisher or the author.This General Note is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of the ArkansasAcademy of Science by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact scholar@uark.edu, ccmiddle@uark.edu.Recommended CitationHarvey, Michael J. and McDaniel, V. Rick (1983) "Status of the Bat Myotis keenii in the Arkansas Ozarks," Journal of the ArkansasAcademy of Science: Vol. 37 , Article 31.Available at: http://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol37/iss1/31Arkansas Academy of Science Proceedings, Vol. XXXVII,1983 89General NotesMACKLIN, J. M., and C. COOK. 1967. New records of KentuckyOdonata. Proc. North Central Branch Ent. Soc. Amer. 22:120-121.MONTGOMERY, B.E. 1967. Geographical distribution ofthe Odonataof the North Central States. Proc. NorthCentral Branch Ent. Soc.Amer. 22:121-129.NEEDHAM,J. G., and H.B.HEYWOOD. 1929. Ahandbook ofthedragonflies ofNorthAmerica. C.C. Thomas. Springfield, 111. 386pp.WALKER, E. M. 1953. The Odonata of Canada and Alaska. Vol. 1.Univ.of Toronto Press, Toronto, Canada. 292 pp.GEORGE L.HARP, Department of Biological Sciences, Arkansas State University, State University, AR 72467.STATUS OF THE BATMyotis keenii INTHE ARKANSAS OZARKSkKeen's bat, Myotis keenii, occurs in two disjunct ranges in North America. The western subspecies, M.k.keenii, is found from Alaska southget Sound in Washington. The eastern race, M. k. septentrionalis, ranges from Saskatchewan to Newfoundland and south tonorthern Floridaiand Shump, 1979).Ithas been suggested by van Zyllde Jong (1979), based on a study of Canadian specimens, that M. k.keenii and M. k. septentrionalis aredistinct species. Inthat case, the Arkansas form would take the name M.septentrionalis. At this time it is notclear whether or not this separationwill be accepted. Therefore, we utilize the name M. k. septentrionalis for the Arkansas form.Myotis keenii is a medium-sized Myotis with long ears (17-19 mm) and a narrow pointed tragus. The forearm measures 32-39 mm and thewingspan is 228-258 mm; the calcar is not keeled (Barbour and Davis, 1969). Color varies somewhat but the body is usually brownish to reddish-brown above and gray below. The fur is not glossy.Myotis keenii hibernate in caves or mines during the winter where they usually select relatively cool sites, often near cave entrances. Theyoften hang singly and seem to prefer tight crevices and holes. They are never abundant; concentrations of 100 or more ina single cave or mineare unusual (Barbour and Davis, 1969). During summer they roost in a variety of shelters includingunder the bark of trees, behind shutters, andin buildings. They appear to be relatively solitary in their habits, except for small maternity colonies formed during summer.InArkansas, M. keenii is widelydistributed throughout the InteriorHighlands. Sealander (1979) considered it to be "relativelyuncommon"in Arkansas and reported it fromBenton, Washington, Newton, Baxter, Stone, and Independence counties inthe Ozarks and fromPike and Garlandcounties inthe Ouachitas. During a recent study in eastern Missouri, Caire et al. (1979) reported that 141 trips to 77 caves between October 1975and April1976 resulted in locating only39 M. keenii. However, as many as 460 individuals were captured at a single Missouri cave entrance duringone night in June.Since 1968, wehave recorded M.keenii from 15 caves inseven Arkansas Ozark counties, the same six counties reported bySealander (1979),and also from Marion County. Usually 1-3 and not more than 6M. keenii were seen in any one cave. They were found inrelatively large numbersin onlyone cave, Cave Mountain Cave inNewton County. During the winter of1973-74 we estimated 200 tobe present there and during the winterof 1977-78 we found ca. 100 (we did not visit the cave during the intervening years). Since the winter of 1977-78, Cave Mountain Cave has beenchecked yearly and less than 10 M.keenii have been observed there each winter. However, itis important to pointout that because of their preferencefor cracks and holes in the cave ceiling, they could easily be overlooked.INetting at cave entrances during the summer-autumn swarming period indicates that this species is more abundant in the Arkansas Ozarksindicated byobservations ofhibernating bats incaves and mines. Asmany as 40M.keenii have been netted at the entrance ofCave Mountain. However, that number is greater than at most caves netted, where the number captured during any one night is usually less than 10.iCave Mountain Cave, located on Buffalo National River lands, from which the largest numbers of M.keenii have been reported in Arkansas,recently (1982) fenced by the National Park Service to protect the endangered Indiana bats (M. sodatis) and gray bats (M. grisescens) thatnate there from human disturbance. Hopefully, the protection of this cave from disturbance during the hibernation period will result in anase in the numbers of M. sodalis, M. grisescens, and M. keenii that hibernate there.LITERATURE CITEDBARBOUR, R. W., and W. H. DAVIS. 1969. Bats of America.Univ.Kentucky Press, Lexington. 286 p.SEALANDER, J. A.1979. Aguide to Arkansas mammals. River RoadPress, Conway, Arkansas. 313 p.rRE, W., R. K.LAVAL,M.L.LAVAL,and R. CLAWSON. 1979.Notes on the ecology ofMyotis keenii (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae)in eastern Missouri. Amer. Midi.Nat. 102:404-407. VAN ZYLL DE JONG, C. G. 1979. Distribution and systematicrelationships oflong-earned Myotis in western Canada. CanadianJ. Zool., 57-987-994.FITCH, J. H., and K.A. SHUMP, Jr. 1979. Myotiskeenii. Mamm.Species 12:1-3.MICHAELJ. HARVEY,Ecological Research Center, Department of Biology,Memphis State University, Memphis, TN38152, and V. RICKMCDANIEL,Department of BiologicalScience, Arkansas State University, State University, AR 72467.89Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science, Vol. 37 [1983], Art. 31Published by Arkansas Academy of Science, 1983

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Status of the Bat Myotis keenii in the Arkansas Ozarks

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