Notes on Pteropus samoensis and Pteropus tonganus, two commercially hunted bat species of Western Samoa by Carlos Drews (+) and Astrid Schmidl-Drews Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, England Abstract. Two medium sized Pteropus species occur in Western Samoa: the Tongean and the Samoan fruit bat. Morphometrical data and a description of their fur are presented, as well as notes on their habits provided by local hunters and other people interviewed. The hunters considered P, samoensis to be larger than P. tonganus. This size difference is not supported by measurements performed in this and other studies, in which large specimens of both species had forearm lengths close to 150 mm, Weight data is still lacking. The cultural significance of the fruit bats to the Western Samoans is presented. In Western Samoa fruit bats are kept as pets; consumed as a delicate food source; given as a precious gift; are a target for sport hunters; and provide a source of income when hunted commercially for export to Guam. The hunting techniques include a self manufactured multiple barrel shooting device. The protection measures and the dynamics of the bat export business are described. (*) reprint requestsIntroduction Upolu and Savaii are the two larger islands of Western Samoa. Three species of bats are reported from these islands (Cox 1983): two Megachiroptera (Pteropus tonganus and P, samoensis) and one Microchiroptera (Emballonura semicaudata). P. samoensis is unusual among bats in that it can typically be observed soaring in thermal currents during the day ith the wings fully extended, resembling a bird of prey (Cox 1983, Engbring in press). Fruit bats (Megachiroptera) are a highly appreciated delicacy for the residents of Guam (Marianas Islands) in the Southern Pacific. As the native fruit bats were threatened by extinction and became protected, Guam started importing bats from other islands including Western Samoa, which soon became the major bat supplier shipping over 15,000 animals in 1983 and 1984 (Wiles & Payne 1986). The first study on the status of the fruit bat population in Western Samoa was undertaken in 1986 and recommended the partial protection of the Tongean fruit bat (Pteropus tonganus) and the Samoan fruit bat (Pteropus samoensis) (Engbring in press). That study described for the first time in detail the differences between both species which allow an accurate identification in the field. The biology of the Samoan bats has not yet been studied systematically. The present report is the result of a two week stay in Western Samoa in January 1988, during which fruit bats were observed and information on their habits, cultural significance and conservation status gathered by means of interviews of bat hunters and other people. The morphometrical data and fur descriptions presented are complementary to the information collected by Engbring (in press). Species identification and habits: The bat hunters are aware of the existence of two kinds of fruit bats, which clearly correspond in their external characteristics and behaviour to the two species P.tonganus and P. samoensis as described by Engbring (in press). The hunters characterized the two species as follows: David Peterson, a commercial hunter from Upolu, described one kind of fruit bat, the smaller of the two, as having light brown to yellowish neck and shoulders. This kind is very common and generally referred to simply as the pe’a (bat, here P. tonganus). They sleep on trees in large colonies of hundreds of individuals. This is the kind of bat which is most commonly shot. The pe’a sometimes fly during the day, particularly during rainy days when they leave the forest relatively early for the feeding grounds at the coast. Meaoli, a sport hunter from Eastern Savaii, has seen them flying to the coast as early as 1500 hrs. On sunny and hot days they fly out later, generally waiting until sunset. P’ea weigh between one and two pounds. Meaoli mentioned a bat colony to the west of his land, where the bats are on average smaller than those of the colony within his land but do not differ in colour from the latter. Peterson recalled that on almost every hunting trip he found young bats, and concluded that they reproduce throughout the year. The second kind is called pe’a vao (bush bat, here P. samoensis) and is larger than the first kind, according to the hunters. The three hunters we interviewed agreed in the description of the pe’a vao's external appearance and less gregarious roosting habits. It reaches about 80 cm to 1 meter wingspan. The pe’a vao’s fur is brown with silvery hairs in between. The neck and shoulders are more intense in colour, dark brown, unlike the pe’a, which is light. Pe’a vao are uncommon and tend to roost singly or in groups of up to three bats, never in large colonies. They are usually sighted in the forest during pigeon hunts. Occasionally one or two are found sleeping on the same tree among the colonies of pe’a, the supposedly smaller bats. The pe’a vao may weigh up to four and a half pounds. In flight the wings of the pe’a vao are black, not transparent, and they fly with relatively slow wing beats. They are attracted to blooming Eucalyptus plantations. Pe’a vao also frequent the banyan tree (a0a, Ficus samoensis) and the tava (Pometia sp.). Meaoli pointed out that when he went hunting at night, looking for bats at their feeding trees, he never saw a pe’a