Species Pteropus alecto Temminck, 1837

Museums

Regional Maps

• Pteropus alecto Temminck, C.J. 1837. Les cheiroptères frugivores. Additions aux vues générales sur l'ordre des cheiroptères, révision de la monographie du genre Roussette et monographies des genres Pachysome, Macroglosse, Harpie et Céphalote. pp. 49–112 pls 35–40. Leiden : C.C. van der Hoek Vol. 2. [publication date established from Husson, A.M. 1962. The bats of Suriname. Zoologische Verhandelingen 58: 1–282 pls 1–30 [276]] [75].

  Type data:

   Holotype RMNH 33643 skeleton (skeleton RMNH 33643 is Pteropus alecto Temminck specimen a of Jentink, F.A. 1887. Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle des Pays-Bas. Tome IX. Catalogue ostéologique des mammifères. Leide : E.J. Brill 360 pp. 12 pls [260]; the evidence for this specimen being the holotype of P. alecto is not quite conclusive, see Andersen, K. 1912. Catalogue of the Chiroptera in the Collection of the British Museum. 2nd Megachiroptera. London : British Museum Vol. 1 cii 854 pp. [367]; skin not found in RMNH), Manado district, Sulawesi, Indonesia (as le district de Menado dans l'île Célèbes).

 

Distribution

States

New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, Western Australia

IBRA and IMCRA regions

drainage basins and coastal and oceanic zones

IBRA

NSW, NT, Qld, WA: Arnhem Coast (ARC), Arnhem Plateau (ARP), Brigalow Belt North (BBN), Brigalow Belt South (BBS), Central Arnhem (CA), Carnarvon (CAR), Central Kimberley (CK), Central Mackay Coast (CMC), Coolgardie (COO), Central Ranges (CR), Cape York Peninsula (CYP), Daly Basin (DAB), Darwin Coastal (DAC), Desert Uplands (DEU), Dampierland (DL), Einasleigh Uplands (EIU), Gascoyne (GAS), Gibson Desert (GD), Gulf Fall and Uplands (GFU), Geraldton Sandplains (GS), Great Sandy Desert (GSD), Gulf Coastal (GUC), Gulf Plains (GUP), Great Victoria Desert (GVD), Hampton (HAM), Little Sandy Desert (LSD), Mount Isa Inlier (MII), Murchison (MUR), Northern Kimberley (NK), NSW North Coast (NNC), Nullarbor (NUL), Ord Victoria Plain (OVP), Pine Creek (PCK), Pilbara (PIL), Sydney Basin (SB), South East Corner (SEC), South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), Tanami (TAN), Tiwi Cobourg (TIW), Victoria Bonaparte (VB), Wet Tropics (WT), Yalgoo (YAL)

Original AFD Distribution Data

Australian Region

• Australia
  • New South Wales: SE coastal
  • Northern Territory: N Gulf, N coastal
  • Queensland: N Gulf, NE coastal
  • Western Australia: N coastal, NW coastal, W plateau

Ecological Descriptors

Closed forest, coastal, frugivorous, glider, gregarious, mellivore, subtropical.

Extra Ecological Information

Arboreal roosts.

 

General References

Birt, P., Hall, L.S. & Smith, G.C. 1997. Ecomorphology of the tongues of Australian Megachiroptera (Chiroptera: Pteropidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 45: 369-384

Friend, G.R. & Braithwaite, R.W. 1986. Bat fauna of Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory. Australian Mammalogy 9: 43-52

Hall, L.S. 1987. Identification, distribution and taxonomy of Australian flying-foxes (Chiroptera: Pteropidae). Australian Mammalogy 10: 75-80

Hall, L.S. 1995. Black Flying-fox Pteropus alecto. pp. 432-433 in Strahan, R. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia: The National Photographic Index of Australian Wildlife. Sydney : Reed New Holland 756 pp.

Honacki, J.H., Kinman, K.E. & Koeppl, J.W. (eds) 1982. Mammal Species of the World: A taxonomic and geographic reference. Lawrence, Kansas : Allen Press & Assoc. Syst. Coll. ix 694 pp.

Koopman, K.F. 1984. Taxonomic and distributional notes on tropical Australian bats. American Museum Novitates 2778: 1-48

Landau, I., Chavatte, J.-M. & Beveridge, I. 2012. Johnsprentia copemani gen. nov., sp. nov. (Haemoproteidae), a parasite of the flying-fox Pteropus alecto from Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum - Nature 56(1): 61-66

Lanza, B. 1969. The baculum of Pteropus and its significance for the phylogenesis of the genus (Mammalia, Megachiroptera). Monitore Zoologico Italiano ns, suppl. 3: 37-68

Laurie, E.M.O. & Hill, J.E. 1954. List of Land Mammals of New Guinea, Celebes and Adjacent Islands 1758–1952. London : British Museum 175 pp. 3 pls.

Markus, N. 2002. Behaviour of the black flying fox Pteropus alecto. II. Territoriality and courtship. Acta Chiropterologica 4(2): 153-166

Markus, N. & Hall, L. 2004. Foraging behaviour of the black flying fox (Pteropus alecto) in the urban landscape of Brisbane, Queensland. Wildlife Research 31: 1-11

McKean, J.L. & Hamilton-Smith, E. 1967. Litter size and maternity sites in Australian bats (Chiroptera). Victorian Naturalist 84: 203-206

McWilliam, A.N. 1986. The feeding ecology of Pteropus in north-eastern New South Wales, Australia. Myotis 23-24: 201-208

Mickleburgh, S.P., Hutson, A.M. & Racey, P.A. (Compilers) 1992. Old World Fruit Bats: An action plan for their conservation. Gland : IUCN 252 pp.

Nelson, J.E. 1964. Vocal communication in Australian flying foxes (Pteropodidae; Megachiroptera). Zeitschrift für Tierpsychologie 21: 857-870

Nelson, J.E. 1965. Behaviour of Australian Pteropodidae (Megachiroptera). Animal Behaviour 13: 544-557 pls 7-9

Nelson, J.E. 1965. Movements of Australian flying foxes (Pteropodidae: Megachiroptera). Australian Journal of Zoology 13: 53-73

Palmer, C., Price, O. & Bach, C. 2000. Foraging ecology of the black flying fox (Pteropus alecto) in the seasonal tropics of the Northern Territory. Wildlife Research 27: 169-178

Palmer, C. & Woinarski, J.C.Z. 1999. The black flying fox Pteropus alecto in the Northern Territory: resource tracking in a landscape mosaic. Wildlife Research 26: 823-838

Ratcliffe, F.N. 1931. The flying fox (Pteropus) in Australia. Bulletin of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Australia 53: 1-81

Stager, K.E. & Hall, L.S. 1983. A cave-roosting colony of the black flying fox (Pteropus alecto) in Queensland, Australia. Journal of Mammalogy 64: 523-525

Stephan, H., Nelson, J.E. & Frahm, H.D. 1981. Brain size comparison in Chiroptera. Zeitschrift für Zoologische Systematik und Evolutionsforschung 19: 195-222

Stephan, H. & Nelson, J.E. 1981. Brains of Australian Chiroptera 1. Encephalization and macromorphology. Australian Journal of Zoology 29: 653-670

Tedman, R.A. & Hall, L.S. 1985. The morphology of the gastrointestinal tract and food transit time in the fruit bats Pteropus alecto and P. poliocephalus (Megachiroptera). Australian Journal of Zoology 33: 625-640

Vardon, M.J. & Tideman, C.R. 1998. Reproduction, growth and maturity in the black flying fox, Pteropus alecto (Megachiroptera: Pteropidae). Australian Journal of Zoology 46: 329-344

Vardon, M.J. & Tidemann, C.R. 1997. Black flying foxes, Pteropus alecto: Are they different in north Australia? Australian Mammalogy 20: 131-134

Waithman, J. 1979. A report on a collection of mammals from southwest Papua, 1972–1973. The Australian Zoologist 20: 313-326

Webb, N.J. & Tideman, C.R. 1995. Hybridisation between black (Pteropus alecto) and grey-headed (P. poliocephalus) flying foxes (Megachiroptera: Pteropidae). Australian Mammalogy 1995: 19-26

 

Common Name References

ABRS 2001. Census of Australian Vertebrates. Australian Biological Resources Study. (Black Flying-fox)

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
12-Dec-2022	CHIROPTERA	12-Dec-2022	MOVED
17-Nov-2010		17-Nov-2010	MOVED
04-Dec-2018		17-Nov-2010	MOVED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)