Alias:Pipistrellus circumdatus,Arielulus circumdatus
Outline:Chiroptera
Family:Chiroptera batidae Pipistrella
length:46-58mm
Weight:9-12g
IUCN:LC
Pipistrellus has previously been classified as <Pipistrellus> by Heller & Volleth (1984) as <P. societatis>, However, both Hill & Francis (1984) and Corbet & Hill (1992) considered it to be an independent species <P. circumdatus>. Csorba et al. (1999) separated it from Pipistrella and established the genus Arielulus. Wang Yingxiang (2003) assigned the Chinese specimen to the Dulongjiang subspecies <A. c. drungicus> (Wang,1982), but Wilson (2008) suggested that it was only slightly different from the named subspecies in dental characteristics and could be considered as monotypic until more thorough geographical differences were studied.
The big black Pipistrella is an insectivorous bat with a frequency modulated ultrasound. Reports from Nepal and Myanmar were collected from the warm evergreen forest or virgin forest at an altitude of 1300-2100m. The specimens from Yunnan were collected from 1984 to 1986 at an altitude of 1750-2000m near a reservoir or a stream, while the specimens from Nanling in Guangdong were collected from a forest road at an altitude of 1000m near a large stream and a reservoir formed by intercepting the stream. In the Yunnan specimen, a subadult body was found in July.