Abstract: Eothenomys melanogaster, being distributed in the southern part of China, is a common species of Microtinae. Its ecology in the northwest and the central section of Zhejiang Province was investigated by the authors in 1981 and 1984. Results obtained are as follows.The mountain regions of high elevation (above 1000m) are the main habitats of this vole. Its number increases with altitude. Two peaks of seasonal fluctuation in number appear in May-June and September-October respectively, and the first peak is higher than the second one. The capture rate in winter is the lowest.Based upon the body length, four age classes can be recognized.The body length criteria are: less than 90, 90-96,97-102,and more than 102 mm for juvenile, subadult, adult and senior age classes respectively. There are seasonal changes in population age composition.In mountain West Tian-mu, the age pyramid of E.melanogaster for the whole year of 1981 was a rather typical, that the population was fundamentally stable.The breeding seasons are in February-March and September-October. It feeds chiefly on the green parts of plant. In spring and summer the frequ- ency of taking the leaves and stems of plant is higher than in autumn and winter.The field techniques including the live-trapping, marking and releasing methods were employed from May to August, 1981.The working period in each month was roughly a week.The studied area was 1.72 hectares.In all, 175 individuals of E.melanogaster were marked.The average area of home range of males is 416.5 ± 37.7sq.m,and that of females is 469.4 ± 40.1 sq.m.The average length of home range is 28.2± 1.7 m for the males and 33.3±3.1 m for the females.During retrapping, we observed that the home range of the same sex overlapped each other, so that there is no territoriality in this species.

Key words: Eothenomys melanogaster, Ecology, Population age composition, Reproduction, Food habit, Home range, Territory

摘要： 黑腹绒鼠(Eothenomys melanogaster)是我国南方较常见的鼠种之一,多栖居在海拔较高的山地,且数量较少。我们于1981年1月至1982年1月、1984年7月和11月在浙江西天目山以及1984年3月至12月在金华的北山对黑腹绒鼠作了生态学的调查,现将结果报告如下。

关键词: 黑腹绒鼠, 生态学, 种群年龄组成, 繁殖, 食性, 巢区, 领域