Ciliate bat
| Ciliate bat | ||||||||||||
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Ciliate bat in flight |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Myotis emarginatus | ||||||||||||
| ( É. Geoffroy , 1806) |
The ciliated bat ( Myotis emarginatus ) belongs to the smooth-nosed bats family and is a medium-sized species of the mouse-eared species .
features
The ciliate bat is a medium-sized species and reaches a head-to-trunk length of about 41 to 53 millimeters with a wingspan of 22 to 24.5 centimeters and a weight of 7 to 15 grams. The tail reaches a length of 38 to 46 millimeters. The long and wooly back fur is three-colored with a gray base, a straw yellow center and rust-brown to fox-red tips. The ventral side is yellowish-gray and the snout is red-brown in color. Young animals of the ciliated bat are significantly darker in color than the adult animals and have a smoke-gray to brown-gray back fur. The ears of the species are dark gray-brown and medium-sized and have an almost right-angled indentation and six to seven pronounced transverse folds on the outer edge of the upper third. The outside is equipped with numerous conspicuous papillae. The tragus is lanceolate and notched on the outer edge, its height almost reaches the indentation of the outer edge.
The skins are also colored gray-brown. The forearm has a length of 36 to 41 millimeters and the wings are relatively wide. The palm skin (plagiopatagium) attaches to the roots of the toes of the relatively small feet. The tail flight skin (uropatagium) has a straight calcar that reaches about half the length of the tail flight skin. The bat got its name from the sparse, fine hair on the dorsal side of the tail flight membrane, which protrudes over the free edge of the tail flight membrane.
distribution
The distribution area of the ciliate bat is from southern and central Europe to the Balkans and from there across Asia Minor , the Caucasus and the desert-free regions in southwest Asia with Israel , Lebanon and Syria to Oman , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan . It also occurs in northwest Africa in the Maghreb with Morocco , Algeria and Tunisia . In Germany, the warmth-loving species is particularly widespread in the southern climatically favored areas in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg . The northernmost evidence of reproduction is known from Limburg in the Netherlands and the neighboring district of Heinsberg ( North Rhine-Westphalia) (NABU Heinsberg).
The species lives mainly in the lowlands and lower mountain ranges and karst areas . The altitudinal distribution ranges up to 1800 meters in the Alps are nurseries proved to heights of 812 meters and hibernating animals up to 1,505 meters.
Way of life
The ciliated bat is a warmth-loving species. In the north of its range, it lives mainly on and in houses, in the south it is more of a cave species. The summer quarters are often very bright compared to those of other species, in attics they prefer temperatures between 25 and 30 degrees Celsius and hang freely on the roof battens or the ridge. In contrast to other species, individual animals or small groups of the species often hang under protruding roofs (Heinsberg district). The winter quarters are in caves, tunnels and cellars at temperatures of 6 to 9 degrees Celsius, rarely lower. Here the animals usually hang individually from the ceiling or the walls, less often in crevices, and rarely form small groups. However, these groups can also include other species such as the great mouse-eared mouse ( Myotis myotis ) or the Bechstein's bat ( Myotis bechsteinii ).
nutrition
The diet consists of small insects, especially two-winged birds such as flies and mosquitoes, as well as butterflies and spiders . Like other bats, they hunt their prey in flight, but they also prey on caterpillars . The hunting excursion begins around 40 to 45 minutes after sunset, with the hunting grounds generally being around 500 meters close to the hunting grounds and being reached via airways along hedges or paths. The bat hunts close to the ground at a height of one to five meters and over water surfaces at a height of about two meters. In the area of hedges and vegetation edges it flies slowly and collects prey, otherwise it is an agile flyer. Eyelash bats also like to hunt in cattle sheds, where they pendle insects and spiders from walls and ceilings.
Reproduction and development
The females become sexually mature in the first year after birth and can be mated, but birth in the first year has not been proven. The mating season begins in autumn, mating in winter quarters is likely. In May the females form maternity roosts , often in roosts with other bats such as the great horseshoe bat ( Rhinolophus ferrumequinum ). The number of females in the nursery varies between 20 and 200 animals, which have been proven for the Czech Republic, and 500 to 1000 animals in France and the Balkans. Births take place in early July, with the females usually giving birth to single cubs and rarely twins. The young animals are able to fly after about four weeks, from August the nurseries are closed.
The known maximum age of the ciliate bat is 18 years, but the average age is only 2.8 to 3.5 years.
Systematics
The first scientific description of the ciliated bat was made in 1806 by Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire under the scientific name Vespertilio emarginatus . Later it was assigned to the genus of the mouse ears ( Myotis ). In addition to the nominate form Myotis emarginatus emarginatus , a distinction is made between the two subspecies Myotis emarginatus desertorum and Myotis emarginatus turcomanicus .
Threat and protection
Due to the comparatively large distribution area and the less specialized habitat requirements, the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) classifies the species as "Least Concern", as there is no acute threat to the stocks. Especially in the 1960s to 1990s, the populations of the species declined regionally in some regions, but were able to recover in Central Europe and are currently probably stable.
Finds of this bat are very rare in Germany, which is why it is under nature protection . As with other bat species, it is threatened by loss of housing , insecticides and habitat changes .
The ciliated bat is listed by the European Union in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive and is therefore a species of community interest that must be strictly protected, and special protection areas must be designated for their preservation.
supporting documents
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Wilfried Schober, Eckhard Grimmberger: The bats of Europe - know, determine, protect. 2nd updated edition, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH, Stuttgart 1998, pp. 130-132, ISBN 3-440-07597-4 .
- ↑ a b c d Myotis emarginatus in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2012.2. Posted by: AM Hutson, F. Spitzenberger, S. Aulagnier, Z. Nagy, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2013.
- ↑ Don E. Wilson & DeeAnn M. Reeder (eds.): Myotis emarginatus ( Memento of March 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) in Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed).
literature
- Wilfried Schober, Eckhard Grimmberger: The bats of Europe - know, determine, protect. 2nd updated edition, Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-440-07597-4 , pp. 130-132.
Web links
- Myotis emarginatus inthe IUCN 2012 Red List of Threatened Species . Posted by: AM Hutson, F. Spitzenberger, S. Aulagnier, Z. Nagy, 2008. Retrieved May 20, 2013.