*2.6.2. Asian barbastelle Barbastella leucomelas (Cretzschmar, 1830/31)*

This is rather a small and delicately built bat with a very striking body color. The dorsal fur is long and silky and of a blackish gray color basally, with the extreme tips of hairs a pale golden brown giving it a hoary appearance. The belly fur is paler grayish brown. The ears are large and conspicuous being rather a squarish in outline and forward slanting.

Present limited evidences indicate that this bat is associated with forests in the northern mountain regions, either Himalayan moist or dry coniferous forest. Since this species is not gregarious in its diurnal roosts, it is never very plentiful throughout its range and the paucity of Pakistan specimens indicates that it is uncommon if not rare [6] include Gilgit and the Punjab within its range based on reports by Blanford, but there are no specimens in the British Museum or Bombay Natural History museum collections from Gilgit. However, a specimen was collected at Dunga Gali in 1907 at 2350 m (7800 ft.) and a second mummified specimen in the same location by the author on 2 May 1980. A third specimen was collected in 1965 by the University of Maryland expedition from Naltar, Gilgit, in spruce forests (*Picea smithiana*), at about 2450 m (8000 ft.) elevation. Siddique does not include this specimen in either of his checklists (1961, 1970). It was collected from Afghanistan in Paktia Province [53] and from several localities in northern Iran [54]. Elsewhere it occurs in Russian Turkestan, Chinese Xinjiang, Transcaucasia [55], southern China, and north to Japan [12]. In India, it occurs in Darjeeling, Nepal, Sikkim, and the Bhutan Duars.

Only one bat was captured through mist net in Lamin Bala (N35° 27.802′ E72° 14.310′) in Upper Dir district.
