Evening bat
Evening bat | |
---|---|
Conservation status | |
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1] | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Chiroptera |
Family: | Vespertilionidae |
Genus: | Nycticeius |
Species: | N. humeralis |
Binomial name | |
Nycticeius humeralis (Rafinesque, 1818) | |
The evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) is a species of bat in the vesper bat family that is native to North America.[2] Hunting at night, they eat beetles, moths, and other flying insects.
Description
The evening bat is a small bat weighing 7–15 g (0.25–0.53 oz)[3] found throughout much of the midwestern and eastern United States. Their forearms are 34–38 mm (1.3–1.5 in) in length.[4] The tip of each dorsal hair is a light gray, and one to two-thirds of the basal is dark brown. Though there have been some cases of white pelage, the majority of the population is mostly brown in color.[4] They have wide, dog-like muzzles, pronounced facial glands, and disproportionately large bacula.[4][5] Evening bats can be mistaken for juvenile big brown bats, due to their physical resemblance but smaller size.
Morphology
Evening bats have relatively robust jaws, compared to other insectivorous bats.[6] They have an unkeeled calcar and a short, round tragus.[7] The curvature of the tragus helps distinguish it from bats of the genus Myotis, which otherwise look very similar.[7] Their skull has one upper incisor on each side with 4 molariform teeth.[8]
Biology
The evening bat is a relatively short-lived, especially compared to other bats in its geographic range.[9] It has a maximum age of 6 years, though few individuals live past 4 years.[10][9] Its short lifespan for a bat could be explained by its considerably higher reproductive output. Bats that only have one pup per year would need to live much longer to have the same fitness as a shorter-lived species with two or three pups per year.[9]
Reproduction
Evening bats mate in the fall and winter; the sperm is stored until the spring, when fertilization occurs.[11] Female bats form maternity colonies in May,[12] consisting of 15-300 individuals.[3] Of females that give birth, 90% have twins, but singletons and triplets are also possible.[11][12][13] Though it is more common for evening bats to nurse their own offspring,[3] a small proportion of offspring are nursed by unrelated females. The pups are capable of flight within a month of birth.[12] Pups are weaned within 42 days of birth.[3] Female pups exhibit natal philopatry, meaning that as adults, they return to the roost where they were born to give birth.[3]
Diet
These bats have varied diets. A majority of the bats' diet in Indiana and Illinois are beetles, including the spotted cucumber beetle, which is a serious agricultural pest.[14] In southern Illinois, the spotted cucumber beetle is almost 25% of the evening bats' diet.[15] Other beetles consumed include ground beetles and scarab beetles.[14] Moths are also a significant dietary component.[14] Bugs, winged ants, and flies are prey items of less significance.[15][16] Evening bats partition resources with other insectivorous bats in their range, such as the eastern red bat and Seminole bat.[16] Despite foraging in the same areas at the same time, these three bat species choose different prey items at different points throughout the summer.[16]
Distribution
At first, the evening bat was thought of as a southeastern bat species.[17] However, breeding evening bats have been found as far north as Michigan and as far west as the 100th meridian.[13] Evening bats roost in a variety of structures, including Spanish moss, under bark, in tree cavities, and in buildings.[18] For foraging habitat, evening bats in Georgia prefer pine forest, riparian zones, and open fields.[19] Evening bats have home ranges of approximately 300 hectare (1.15 mi2).[19] Because the evening bat is not found in the northernmost extent of its range in the winter, it is likely that at least some evening bats are migratory.[4]
Conservation
While the evening bat is considered endangered in the state of Indiana,[20] it has a cosmopolitan distribution throughout the southeast and midwest.[18] Because evening bats do not enter or hibernate in caves, the species is not at-risk from white-nose syndrome, which has killed over six million bats in the United States since 2006.[21] The evening bat's avoidance of this disease, along with die-offs of many other species, is possibly responsible for the evening bat recently expanding its range into Wisconsin in 2015 and Minnesota in 2016.[21][22]
State | Conservation Status |
---|---|
Alabama | Lowest Conservation Concern |
Arkansas | Not listed |
Florida | Not listed |
Georgia | Not listed |
Illinois | Not listed |
Indiana | State Endangered |
Iowa | Not listed |
Kentucky | Threatened |
Kansas | Not listed |
Louisiana | Not listed |
Maryland | Not listed |
Michigan | Threatened |
Minnesota | Not listed |
Mississippi | Not listed |
Missouri | Not listed |
Nebraska | Not listed |
North Carolina | Not listed |
Ohio | Species of Special Interest |
Oklahoma | Not listed |
Pennsylvania | Not listed |
South Carolina | Not listed |
Tennessee | Not listed |
Texas | Not listed |
Virginia | Not listed |
West Virginia | Not listed |
Wisconsin | Not listed |
References
- ^ Solari, S. (2019). "Nycticeius humeralis". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2019: e.T14944A22015223. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-1.RLTS.T14944A22015223.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ Simmons, N.B. (2005). "Order Chiroptera". In Wilson, D.E.; Reeder, D.M (eds.). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. pp. 312–529. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
- ^ a b c d e Wilkinson, G.S. (1992). "Communal Nursing in the Evening Bat, Nycticeius humeralis". Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. 31 (4): 225–235. doi:10.1007/bf00171677. S2CID 15560376.
- ^ a b c d Watkins, L. C. (1972). Nycticeius humeralis. Mammalian species, (23), 1-4.
- ^ Hamilton, W. J. (1949). "The bacula of some North American vespertilionid bats". Journal of Mammalogy. 30 (2): 97–102. doi:10.2307/1375254. JSTOR 1375254. PMID 18121317.
- ^ Freeman, P. W. (1981). "Correspondence of food habits and morphology in insectivorous bats". Journal of Mammalogy. 62 (1): 166–173. doi:10.2307/1380489. JSTOR 1380489. S2CID 12934993.
- ^ a b Barbour, R., W. Davis. 1974. Mammals of Kentucky. Kentucky: The University Press of Kentucky.
- ^ Whitaker, John O. (2010). Mammals of Indiana. Bloomington, IA: Indiana University Press. pp. 118 & 119. ISBN 978-0-253-22213-8.
- ^ a b c Austad, S. N. (2010). Cats,"rats," and bats: the comparative biology of aging in the 21st century. Integrative and comparative biology, icq131.
- ^ Humphrey, S. R.; Cope, J. B. (1970). "Population samples of the evening bat, Nycticeius humeralis". Journal of Mammalogy. 51 (2): 399–401. doi:10.2307/1378503. JSTOR 1378503.
- ^ a b Whitaker, J. O., Jr., J. B. Cope, D. W. Sparks, V. Brack, Jr., and S. Johnson. Bats of Indiana. Publication no. 1, ISU Center for North American Bat Research and Conservation. Indiana State University. 59 pp.
- ^ a b c Watkins, L. C., & Shump Jr, K. A. (1981). Behavior of the evening bat Nycticeius humeralis at a nursery roost. American Midland Naturalist, 258-268.
- ^ a b Kurta, A., Foster, R., Hough, E., & Winhold, L. (2005). The evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) on the northern edge of its range—a maternity colony in Michigan. The American midland naturalist, 154(1), 264-267.
- ^ a b c Whitaker Jr, J. O., & Clem, P. (1992). Food of the evening bat Nycticeius humeralis from Indiana. American Midland Naturalist, 211-214.
- ^ a b Feldhamer, G. A., Whitaker Jr, J. O., Krejca, J. K., & Taylor, S. J. (1995). Food of the evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) and red bat (Lasiurus borealis) from southern Illinois. Transactions of the Illinois Academy of Science, 88, 139-143.
- ^ a b c Carter, T. C., Menzel, M. A., Chapman, B. R., & Miller, K. V. (2004). Partitioning of food resources by syntopic eastern red (Lasiurus borealis), Seminole (L. seminolus) and evening (Nycticeius humeralis) bats. The American midland naturalist, 151(1), 186-191.
- ^ Baker, W. W.; Marshall, S. G.; Baker, V. B. (1968). "Autumn fat deposition in the evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis)". Journal of Mammalogy. 49 (2): 314–317. doi:10.2307/1377991. JSTOR 1377991.
- ^ a b Menzel, M. A., Carter, T. C., Ford, W. M., & Chapman, B. R. (2001). Tree-roost characteristics of subadult and female adult evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) in the Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina. The American Midland Naturalist, 145(1), 112-119.
- ^ a b Morris, A. D.; Miller, D. A.; Conner, L. M. (2011). "Home-range size of evening bats (Nycticeius humeralis) in southwestern Georgia". Southeastern Naturalist. 10 (1): 85–94. doi:10.1656/058.010.0107. S2CID 84793982.
- ^ "Bats in Indiana". Indiana Department of Natural Resources. IN.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^ a b Bergquist, Lee (September 13, 2016). "First find of bat species in 60 years". Journal Sentinel. Milwaukee. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^ "First new bat species discovered in Minnesota in more than a century". Minnesota DNR. Minnesota. August 1, 2016. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
External links
Media related to Nycticeius humeralis at Wikimedia Commons Data related to Nycticeius humeralis at Wikispecies
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- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Class: Mammalia
- Order: Chiroptera
- Family: Vespertilionidae
- Hoary bat (A. cinereus)
- Big red bat (A. egregius)
- Hawaiian hoary bat (A. semotus)
- A. villosissimus
- Banana serotine(A. nanus)
- Collared pipistrelle (A. aureocollaris)
- Black-gilded pipistrelle (A. circumdatus)
- Coppery pipistrelle (A. cuprosus)
- Social pipistrelle (A. societatis)
- Necklace pipistrelle (A. torquatus)
- Western barbastelle (B. barbastellus)
- Beijing barbastelle (B. beijingensis)
- Eastern barbastelle (B. darjelingensis)
- Asian barbastelle (B. leucomelas)
- Van Gelder's bat (B. dubiaquercus)
- Large-eared pied bat (C. dwyeri)
- Gould's wattled bat (C. gouldii)
- Chocolate wattled bat (C. morio)
- New Caledonia wattled bat (C. neocaledonicus)
- Hoary wattled bat (C. nigrogriseus)
- Little pied bat (C. picatus)
- New Zealand long-tailed bat (C. tuberculatus)
- Mexican big-eared bat (C. mexicanus)
- Rafinesque's big-eared bat (C. rafinesquii)
- Townsend's big-eared bat (C. townsendii)
- Southern yellow bat (D. ega)
- Cuban yellow bat (D. insularis)
- Northern yellow bat (D. intermedius)
- Western yellow bat (D. xanthinus)
- E. anatolicus
- Little black serotine (E. andinus)
- Bobrinski's serotine (E. bobrinskoi)
- Botta's serotine (E. bottae)
- Brazilian brown bat (E. brasiliensis)
- E. chiriquinus
- Diminutive serotine (E. diminutus)
- Surat serotine (E. dimissus)
- Horn-skinned bat (E. floweri)
- Argentine brown bat (E. furinalis)
- Big brown bat (E. fuscus)
- Gobi big brown bat (E. gobiensis)
- Guadeloupe big brown bat (E. guadeloupensis)
- Long-tailed house bat (E. hottentotus)
- Harmless serotine (E. innoxius)
- E. isabellinus
- E. japonensis
- Kobayashi's bat (E. kobayashii)
- E. lobatus
- Sind bat (E. nasutus)
- Northern bat (E. nilssonii)
- E. ognevi
- E. pachyomus
- Thick-eared bat (E. pachyotis)
- Lagos serotine (E. platyops)
- Serotine bat (E. serotinus)
- E. taddeii
- Sombre bat (E. tatei)
- Spotted bat (E. maculatum)
- Disk-footed bat (E. denticulus)
- Chocolate pipistrelle (F. affinis)
- Western false pipistrelle (F. mackenziei)
- Pungent pipistrelle (F. mordax)
- Peters's pipistrelle (F. petersi)
- Eastern false pipistrelle (F. tasmaniensis)
- Allen's striped bat (G. alboguttata)
- Silvered bat (G. argentata)
- Beatrix's bat (G. beatrix)
- Curry's bat (G. curryae)
- Bibundi bat (G. egeria)
- Glen's wattled bat (G. gleni)
- Allen's spotted bat (G. humeralis)
- Kenyan wattled bat (G. kenyacola)
- Machado's butterfly bat (G. machadoi)
- Abo bat (G. poensis)
- Variegated butterfly bat (G. variegata)
- G. aquilus
- G. bucephalus
- Javan thick-thumbed bat (G. javanus)
- Common thick-thumbed bat (G. tylopus)
- Blanford's bat (H. blanfordi)
- False serotine bat (H. doriae)
- Gaskell's false serotine (H. gaskelli)
- Tickell's bat (H. tickelli)
- Large false serotine (H. tomesi)
- Strange big-eared brown bat (H. alienus)
- H. diaphanopterus
- Humboldt big-eared brown bat (H. humboldti)
- Thomas's big-eared brown bat (H. laephotis)
- Big-eared brown bat (H. macrotus)
- Southern big-eared brown bat (H. magellanicus)
- Small big-eared brown bat (H. montanus)
- Tropical big-eared brown bat (H. velatus)
- H. alaschanicus
- H. anthonyi
- Arabian pipistrelle (H. arabicus)
- Desert pipistrelle (H. ariel)
- H. bemainty
- Cadorna's pipistrelle (H. cadornae)
- Broad-headed pipistrelle (H. crassulus)
- Long-toothed pipistrelle (H. dolichodon)
- Eisentraut's pipistrelle (H. eisentrauti)
- Brown pipistrelle (H. imbricatus)
- Joffre's pipistrelle (H. joffrei)
- Red-brown pipistrelle (H. kitcheneri)
- Lanza's pipistrelle (H. lanzai)
- Burma pipistrelle (H. lophurus)
- Big-eared pipistrelle (H. macrotis)
- Mouselike pipistrelle (H. musciculus)
- Chinese pipistrelle (H. pulveratus)
- Savi's pipistrelle (H. savii)
- Vordermann's pipistrelle (H. vordermanni)
- Great evening bat (I. io)
- Allen's big-eared bat (I. phyllotis)
- Angolan long-eared bat (L. angolensis)
- Botswanan long-eared bat (L. botswanae)
- Namib long-eared bat (L. namibensis)
- De Winton's long-eared bat (L. wintoni)
- Silver-haired bat (L. noctivagans)
- L. arequipae
- L. atratus
- Desert red bat (L. blossevillii)
- Eastern red bat (L. borealis)
- Tacarcuna bat (L. castaneus)
- Jamaican red bat (L. degelidus)
- Hairy-tailed bat (L. ebenus)
- Western red bat (L. frantzii))
- Minor red bat (L. minor)
- Pfeiffer's red bat (L. pfeifferi)
- Saline red bat (L. salinae)
- Seminole bat (L. seminolus)
- Cinnamon red bat (L. varius)
- Moloney's mimic bat (M. moloneyi)
- Dark-brown serotine (N. brunnea)
- Cape serotine (N. capensis)
- Yellow serotine (N. flavescens)
- N. grandidieri
- Tiny serotine (N. guineensis)
- N. isabella
- Isalo serotine (N. malagasyensis)
- Malagasy serotine (N. matroka)
- Melck's house bat (N. melckorum)
- Rendall's serotine (N. rendalli)
- N. robertsi
- Rosevear's serotine (N. roseveari)
- Somali serotine (N. somalica)
- N. stanleyi
- White-winged serotine (N. tenuipinnis)
- Zulu serotine (N. zuluensis)
- Pied bat (N. superba)
- Birdlike noctule (N. aviator)
- Azores noctule (N. azoreum)
- Nyctalus furvus (N. furvus)
- Greater noctule bat (N. lasiopterus)
- Lesser noctule (N. leisleri)
- Mountain noctule (N. montanus)
- Common noctule (N. noctula)
- Chinese noctule (N. plancyi)
- Schlieffen's bat (N. schlieffeni)
- Temminck's mysterious bat (N. aenobarbus)
- Cuban evening bat (N. cubanus)
- Evening bat (N. humeralis)
- Northern long-eared bat (N. arnhemensis)
- Eastern long-eared bat (N. bifax)
- N. corbeni
- N. daedalus
- Lesser long-eared bat (N. geoffroyi)
- Gould's long-eared bat (N. gouldi)
- Sunda long-eared bat (N. heran)
- Lord Howe long-eared bat (N. howensis)
- N. major
- Small-toothed long-eared bat (N. microdon)
- New Guinea long-eared bat (N. microtis)
- New Caledonian long-eared bat (N. nebulosus)
- Tasmanian long-eared bat (N. sherrini)
- Mount Missim long-eared bat (N. shirleyae)
- Greater long-eared bat (N. timoriensis)
- Pygmy long-eared bat (N. walkeri)
- Desert long-eared bat (O. hemprichii)
- Otonycteris leucophaea (O. leucophaea)
- Western pipistrelle (P. hesperus)
- Eastern pipistrelle (P. subflavus)
- New Guinea big-eared bat (P. imogene)
- Rohu's bat (P. brachypterus)
- Japanese house bat (P. abramus)
- Forest pipistrelle (P. adamsi)
- Mount Gargues pipistrelle (P. aero)
- Anchieta's pipistrelle (P. anchietae)
- Angulate pipistrelle (P. angulatus)
- Kelaart's pipistrelle (P. ceylonicus)
- Greater Papuan pipistrelle (P. collinus)
- Indian pipistrelle (P. coromandra)
- P. dhofarensis
- Egyptian pipistrelle (P. deserti)
- Endo's pipistrelle (P. endoi)
- P. hanaki
- Dusky pipistrelle (P. hesperidus)
- Aellen's pipistrelle (P. inexspectatus)
- Java pipistrelle (P. javanicus)
- Kuhl's pipistrelle (P. kuhlii)
- Madeira pipistrelle (P. maderensis)
- Minahassa pipistrelle (P. minahassae)
- Christmas Island pipistrelle (P. murrayi)
- Tiny pipistrelle (P. nanulus)
- Nathusius's pipistrelle (P. nathusii)
- Lesser Papuan pipistrelle (P. papuanus)
- Mount Popa pipistrelle (P. paterculus)
- Dar es Salaam pipistrelle (P. permixtus)
- Common pipistrelle (P. pipistrellus)
- Soprano pipistrelle (P. pygmaeus)
- P. raceyi
- Rüppell's pipistrelle (P. rueppellii)
- Rusty pipistrelle (P. rusticus)
- Narrow-winged pipistrelle (P. stenopterus)
- Sturdee's pipistrelle (P. sturdeei)
- Least pipistrelle (P. tenuis)
- Watts's pipistrelle (P. wattsi)
- Northern pipistrelle (P. westralis)
- P. ariel
- Brown long-eared bat (P. auritus)
- Grey long-eared bat (P. austriacus)
- Ethiopian big-eared bat (P. balensis)
- P. begognae
- Christie's big-eared bat (P. christiei)
- P. gaisleri
- P. homochrous
- Kolombatovic's long-eared bat (P. kolombatovici)
- P. kozlovi
- Alpine long-eared bat (P. macrobullaris)
- Ognev's long-eared bat (P. ognevi
- Japanese long-eared bat (P. sacrimontis)
- Sardinian long-eared bat (P. sardus)
- P. strelkovi
- Taiwan big-eared bat (P. taivanus)
- Canary big-eared bat (P. teneriffae)
- P. turkmenicus
- P. wardi
- Yucatan yellow bat (R. aeneus)
- Allen's yellow bat (R. alleni)
- Bickham's little yellow bat (R. bickhami)
- Genoways's yellow bat (R. genowaysi)
- Slender yellow bat (R. gracilis)
- Husson's yellow bat (R. hussoni)
- Thomas's yellow bat (R. io
- Menchu's little yellow bat (R. menchuae)
- Tiny yellow bat (R. minutilla)
- Least yellow bat (R. mira)
- Little yellow bat (R. parvula)
- Black-winged little yellow bat (R. tumida)
- R. velilla
- Rüppell's broad-nosed bat (S. rueppellii)
- White-bellied lesser house bat (S. albigula)
- Light-winged lesser house bat (S. albofuscus)
- Hinde's lesser house bat (S. hindei)
- Dark-winged lesser house bat (S. hirundo)
- Desert yellow bat (S. pallidus)
- Harlequin bat (S. ornatus)
- S. alvenslebeni
- Andrew Rebori's house bat (S. andrewreborii)
- Lesser yellow bat (S. borbonicus)
- Sulawesi yellow bat (S. celebensis)
- Sody's yellow house bat (S. collinus)
- African yellow bat (S. dinganii)
- Ejeta's house bat (S. ejetai)
- Greater Asiatic yellow bat (S. heathii)
- Lesser Asiatic yellow bat (S. kuhlii)
- White-bellied yellow bat (S. leucogaster)
- Livingstone's house bat (S. livingstonii)
- Marovaza house bat (S. marovaza)
- Schreber's yellow bat (S. nigrita)
- S. nigritellus
- Robbins's yellow bat (S. nucella)
- Nut-colored yellow bat (S. nux)
- Robust yellow bat (S. robustus)
- S. tandrefana
- Trujillo’s house bat (S. trujilloi)
- Greenish yellow bat (S. viridis)
- Inland broad-nosed bat (S. balstoni)
- Little broad-nosed bat (S. greyii)
- Eastern broad-nosed bat (S. orion)
- Northern broad-nosed bat (S. sanborni)
- Dormer's bat (S. dormeri)
- T. fulvida
- T. malayana
- Lesser bamboo bat (T. pachypus)
- Pygmy bamboo bat (T. pygmaeus)
- Greater bamboo bat (T. robustula)
- T. tonkinensis
- Inland forest bat (V. baverstocki)
- Northern cave bat (V. caurinus)
- Large forest bat (V. darlingtoni)
- Yellow-lipped bat (V. douglasorum)
- Finlayson's cave bat (V. finlaysoni)
- Eastern forest bat (V. pumilus)
- Southern forest bat (V. regulus)
- Eastern cave bat (V. troughtoni)
- Little forest bat (V. vulturnus)
- Parti-coloured bat (V. murinus)
- Asian particolored bat (V. sinensis)