Bats Galore!

by Fran Gillespie

Members of Qatar Natural History Group were out one Friday morning, exploring north-west Qatar, when they came across a colony of about 60 small bats thickly clustered on the rafters in a dark corner of a deserted building.

Copyright: David Gillespie

Trident Leaf-Nosed Bats

They were identified as Trident leaf-nosed bats [Asellia tridens]. This species is found all over N. Africa and the Middle East, and is particularly heat-tolerant -- in Iraq a colony was found roosting under the iron roof of a shed in June when the temperature was estimated at 38C! In cooler climates these bats will hibernate during the winter, but in Qatar it is rarely cold enough for them to do so.

They derive their curious name from a feature on their nose resembling a trident with a triangular central part and three spear-like projections. The colour of their silky fur varies, from a sub-species commonly found in Egypt which has medium brown fur, to the pale pinkish-grey of the bats found in Qatar. They have large, almost hairless ears and pale faces. Bats in flight are very difficult to identify, but when roosting the presence of a tail projecting beyond the flight membrane helps to identify this species.

An exceptionally agile species, Trident leaf-nose bats have the most diverse diet of all the bats found in the Middle East, and can catch moths and butterflies as well as wasps, bees, flies, crickets and beetles. They will also skillfully snatch up prey from the ground.

Like all bats, Trident leaf-nosed bats hunt and catch their prey using echolocation, and experiments have proved that this species can detect and avoid wires with a diameter of only 0.65 mm.

Farmers welcome them, because they consume vast numbers of insects which may harm crops or carry disease. The roost observed last month was located near several farms.

Bats have no natural enemies, although snakes and small carnivores may take the young bats if they can reach them. Trident leaf-nosed bats generally have a single offspring, born in early June.

The Bat Population in Qatar and Bahrain

Human interference with their local habitats can cause a decline in their populations, but in Qatar there are still plenty of abandoned and semi- ruined buildings scattered around the landscape, plus limestone caves and sink holes which are also inhabited. Bats will also roost in well-established groves of date palms, such as the one at Umm Slal Mohammed north of Doha.

In Qatar, little work has been done so far on identifying the species of mammals inhabiting the peninsula, and the only known species of bat recorded here so far are the Trident leaf-nose and Hemprich's long-eared bat [Otorynctus hemprichii]. The latter is a very different animal from the tiny Trident leaf-nosed bat – much larger with big pointed ears, chocolate brown fur and a dog-like muzzle with a rounded end.

In Bahrain, two species of pipistrelle – Kuhl's and Ruppell's Pipistrelle – have been recorded and also the weirdly-named Naked-bellied Tomb Bat. It is possible – indeed probable -- that one or more of these species are present in Qatar, but more research needs to be done.

Understudied

Zoologist Dr Drew Gardner of Zayed University, who for several years has been advising the Qatar Natural History Group on identification of wildlife encountered in the field, says that bats are very understudied in Arabia.

He has recently invested in a detector which records the ultrasonic echolocation sounds made by bats, which can then be analysed on a computer. He says that it is often very difficult to identify bats while they are flying, especially at night, but each bat's sound makes a different 'pattern' which helps confirm the identity. He has already carried out some work in Qatar with the detector, and hopes to do more.

View Drew Gardner's Spectrograms of the bats.

Frances Gillespie has contributed to several publications related to Qatar, is the author of Discovering Qatar and also writes regular feature articles for a national newspaper on the cultural heritage and natural history of the country. She is a former chairperson of the Qatar Natural History Group, and is still active on the committee.