EN
Among adult bats, a vomeronasal organ (VNO) is known only for the New World families Phyllostomidae and Mormoopidae, and for the Old World vespertilionid subfamily Miniopterinae. However, Koike (1924) reported the presence of a well-developed VNO in embryos of Scotophilus kuhlii (= S. temmincki), a vespertilionid from Java of the subfamily Vespertilioninae. Given that a VNO has not been described for any other member of Vespertilioninae, we collected and serially sectioned adults and embryos of two species of Scotophilus (S. kuhlii and S. heathi) from Varanasi, India to check Koike's observation. A careful search revealed the complete absence of the VNO in the adults and embryos of both species. We conclude that the embryos described by Koike as having a well-developed VNO were attributed to S. kuhlii in error. The specimens described by Koike may have been confused with other bats from Java, whose adults and embryos are known to have a well-devel- oped VNO (i.e., the miniopterine Miniopterus schreibersii) or a rudimentary VNO, an epithelial tube without neuroepithelium (i.e., various rhinolophids).