About Hipposideros armiger (Hodgson, 1835)
The great roundleaf bat, Hipposideros armiger, is visually similar to its close relative the intermediate roundleaf bat (H. larvatus), but is larger and has four lateral accessory leaflets on each side of its main noseleaf, rather than three. Its forearm can grow up to 9.8 cm long, and it can weigh up to 60 g. In an experiment published by Kathryn Knight, researchers painted the bats’ accessory leaflets and ears and recorded their movement on video. The experiment found that when the bats clicked, their leaflets closed and their ears bent downward. When the bats listened to clicking, they opened their noseleaves and ears. This bat has been documented across South and Southeast Asia. In South Asia, it is found in Northern and Northeastern India, as well as Central, Eastern and Western Nepal. In China, it occurs south of the Yangtze River, and has also been recorded on the islands of Hong Kong and Taiwan. In Southeast Asia, it has been documented in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Malaysia. It has been recorded at elevations ranging from 100 to 2031 meters above sea level. It is a low-flying species. In South Asia, it is a high-altitude species that lives in montane and bamboo forests. It roosts either alone or in small colonies of several individuals, and shares roosting spots in caves, house lofts, verandahs of old houses, and old temples with other bat species. In China, the species occupies a wide range of habitats. It roosts in caves and various man-made structures in colonies of hundreds of bats, shared with bats of the genus Rhinolopus. In Southeast Asia, the bat roosts in caves, but is known to forage in areas located far from its roosts. This species breeds once per year and gives birth to two young. Females have been found pregnant from January through early May, while young bats were observed attached to their mothers from February to June.
