Ryukyu flying fox "Endangered" category and placed it in the "Vulnerable" category. In Temminck's initial description, he wrote that it "devastates" orchards. Its depredation on orchards caused Okinawa Prefecture to launch an investigation in 2012. In two villages surveyed in 2013, it was estimated that flying foxes cause 19 million yen ($175 thousand USD) in damages to citrus crops annually. Many Japanese farmers believe that the Ryukyu flying fox is a pest that should be managed by culling. Ryukyu flying fox The Ryukyu flying fox or Ryukyu fruit bat ("Pteropus dasymallus") is a species of megabat in the family Pteropodidae. It is found
Indian flying fox a new name for a species that had already been described—"Vespertilio vampyrus" which is now "Pteropus vampyrus" (the large flying fox). Mlíkovský made several points in his argument, all with a foundation in the nomenclature rule known as Principle of Priority. The Principle of Priority posits that the first formal, published scientific name given to a species shall be the name that is used. Because Brünnich was attempting to rename the large flying fox in his 1782 publication, his name should not apply to either the large or the Indian flying fox—an older name was in existence, and therefore the