Northern Coppery Sprite

The northern coppery sprite, Arielulus drungicus (also called the Dulong sprite), was split from the black-gilded pipistrelle, A. circumdatus, and described from Dilan in the Drung Valley of north-west Yunnan. Its limits against A. circumdatus are not yet well resolved, and a 2025 study by Zhukova and colleagues of black-gilded pipistrelles in eastern Indochina is the main source for its separation (Mammal Diversity Database; Mammal Study).

It is a different animal from the coppery sprite (A. cuprosus) of Malaysia. No measurements or habitat detail were found in the sources used, so this is a short entry.