Woolly Horseshoe Bat

The woolly horseshoe bat is a large, densely furred horseshoe bat with the complex noseleaf used to direct its echolocation calls. The name Rhinolophus luctus formerly covered populations across much of South and Southeast Asia. Several have since been recognised as separate species, including the northern, Malaysian, Andersen’s and Selangor woolly horseshoe bats. The Mammal Diversity Database’s present treatment records R. luctus only from Indonesia, so older broad-range accounts should not be read as the range of the current taxon (Mammal Diversity Database; Wikipedia general species account).

Across the older species concept, animals roost in caves, tree cavities and foliage, with occasional records from rock spaces, tunnels and abandoned mine shafts in forested country up to 1,600 m. The documented diet consists mainly of beetles and termites, with other insects also taken. Echolocation frequencies reported for the complex vary with body size. Because much of this research predates recent splits, these ecological notes are retained as general context and not presented as measurements unique to Sulawesi’s population (Animal Diversity Web, general species account).