us, which is divided into
_Lasiurus_ proper and _Dasypterus_, is further characterized by the
presence of four teats in the female, and by the general production
of three or four offspring at a birth. _Rhogeessa_ and _Tomopeas_ are
allied tropical American types. _Murina_, with the subgenus
_Harpiocephalus_, has _i._ 2/3, _p._ 2/2, and includes several small
bats distinguished by the prominent tube-like nostrils and hairy
interfemoral membrane. _M. suilla_, from Java, the Malay and
neighbouring islands, is a well-known species, and the closely allied
_M. hilgendorfi_ is from Japan. The remaining species are from the
Himalaya, Tibet and Ceylon; and apparently restricted to the
hill-tracts of the countries in which they are found. Next to
_Vespertilio_ the genus _Myotis_ (divisible into several subgenera),
with _i._ 2/3, _p._ 3/3, includes the largest number of species, and
has rather a wider geographical distribution in both hemispheres, one
species being recorded from the Navigator Islands. The species may be
recognized by the peculiar character of the pairs of upper incisors on
each side, the cusps of which diverge from each other, by the large
number of premolars, of which the second upper is always small, and by
the oval elongated ear and narrow tragus. The British _M. bechsteini_
and _M. nattereri_ are examples of this group. _Cerivoula_
(_Kerivoula_), which also has _p._ 3/3, is distinguished by the
parallel upper incisors and the large second upper premolar. There are
numerous African and Indo-Malayan species, of which _C. picta_, from
India and Indo-Malay, is characterized by its brilliant orange fur,
and membranes variegated with orange and black. The genus includes
delicately formed insectivorous, tropical, forest-haunting bats, whose
colouring approximates them to the ripe bananas among which they often
pass the daytime.

Another subgroup, _Minioptereae_, is represented solely by the genus
_Miniopterus_, with _i._ 2/3, _p._ 2/3. The incisors are separated
from one another in front and from the canines; the first phalange of
the middle finger is very short, the crown of the head elevated, and
the tail long. The genus is represented by some half-dozen Old World
species, among which the typical _M. schreibersi_ ranges from Europe,
southern Asia, and Africa to Japan and Australasia.

[Illustration: FIG. 21.--Head of Mastiff-bat (_Molossus gla