Lutra 54(2)_Cornelis_2011

First recording of the soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) in the Netherlands

In the early 1990s, the soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus) was recognised as a separate (cryptic) species. It is now considered to be widespread in Europe, but was unknown in the Benelux countries until 1998, when the first bioacoustic recording was reported in Belgium. This paper reports the first confirmed record of Pipistrellus pygmaeus in the Netherlands verified using bioacoustics. Intermediate pulse intervals of echolocation calls preceding songflight calls and the bandwidth of songflight calls are proposed as new characteristics that can be used to discriminate between Pipistrellus pygmaeus and Pipistrellus pipistrellus.