Morphology and Composition of Peripheral Blood Cells during Hibernation in Bats (Chiroptera, Vespertilionidae) of Northwestern Russia

Abstract

The composition and morphology of peripheral blood cells during hibernation were studied in five species of bats of the order Chiroptera: Myotis daubentonii (Daubenton’s bat), M. brandtii (Brandt’s bat), M. mystacinus (whiskered bat), Plecotus auritus (brown long-eared bat), and Eptesicus nilssonii (Northern bat). It is noted that these species are characterized by a low level of leukocytes and the prevalence of neutrophils over lymphocytes in the leucogram. Interspecific differences in the morphology of neutrophils, the total number, the absolute and relative content of certain types of leukocytes, and the size of the erythrocyte surface area have been established. They were found to be especially pronounced between the rare species of P. auritus and M. mystacinus and the more common species of M. daubentonii and M. brandtii, as well as the dominant species of E. nilssonii.