Roost characteristics and seasonal variation in population of Scotophilus kuhlii (Leach, 1821) in Uttar Pradesh, India

The Scotophilus kuhlii inhabits in the various roosts structure including crevices, roofs of abandoned buildings, houses, tree holes. The aim of this study was the seasonal variation in population and how the factors influence of roost selection of S. kuhlii at different seasons as well as different habitats in Uttar Pradesh, India, was done by survey method from 2015 to 2018. Results revealed that the S. kuhlii’s population fluctuates over the season and habitats, which was ranging from one to nine individuals per roost, such as the average roost occupancy was higher in monuments (4.36 ± 2.19 individual) compared abandoned buildings (4.08 ± 2.03) and tree holes (2.64 ± 2.11). Length of roost cavities and roost surface area was crucial factors for roost selection of S. kuhlii , i.e. roost population size is directly proportional to roost surface area and length cavities. Thus, the degree of protection supported the claim that the high protection habitat could yield a maximum roost population size accordingly; the monuments showed a high degree of protection and thus a maximum colony size was observed followed by abandoned buildings and tree holes. In winter S. kuhlii was shifting toward a deeper hole/cavity into roost and in summer toward periphery. We conclude that roost characteristics and roost occupancy influence the roost selection of S. kuhlii .