Tricolored bat
Tricolored bat | |
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A tricolored bat captured near Arnold Air Force Base in 2022 | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Chiroptera |
Family: | Vespertilionidae |
Tribe: | Perimyotini |
Genus: | Perimyotis Menu, 1984 |
Species: | P. subflavus
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Binomial name | |
Perimyotis subflavus (
F. Cuvier , 1832) | |
Range of tricolored bat (in yellow) | |
Synonyms | |
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The tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus) or American perimyotis[2] is a species of microbat native to eastern North America. Formerly known as the eastern pipistrelle, based on the incorrect belief that it was closely related to European Pipistrellus species, the closest known relative of the tricolored bat is now recognized as the canyon bat. Its common name "tricolored bat" derives from the coloration of the hairs on its back, which have three distinct color bands. It is the smallest bat species in the eastern and midwestern US, with individuals weighing only 4.6–7.9 g (0.16–0.28 oz). This species mates in the fall before hibernation, though due to sperm storage, females do not become pregnant until the spring. Young are born helpless, though rapidly develop, flying and foraging for themselves by four weeks old. It has a relatively long lifespan, and can live nearly fifteen years.
In the summer, females
Taxonomy
The tricolored bat was
A 2010 study found that the
Its
- P. s. clarus (Baker, 1954)
- P. s. floridanus (Davis, 1957)
- P. s. subflavus (Cuvier, 1832)
- P. s. veraecrucis (Ward, 1891)
Description
The tricolored bat has blond fur that is distinctly tricolored on its back. Individual hairs tricolored: dark gray at the base,
Biology and ecology
Reproduction and life cycle
The tricolored bat is a seasonal breeder, with copulation (mating) occurring in the fall before hibernation. Ovulation does not occur until the spring, however, and females store the males' sperm in their uteruses through the winter. Gestation (pregnancy) length is about forty-four days, with females giving birth in June or July. The litter size is typically two individuals. As newborns, the combined mass of twin pups can be as great as 58% of the mother's postpartum mass. At birth, the young lack fur and their eyes are closed.[15] The mother leaves the offspring behind at the roost while she forages at night.[17] Offspring develop rapidly, beginning to fly at three weeks old. By four weeks old, they are foraging for themselves.[15] Young do not reach sexual maturity in their first fall; they do not breed until their second fall.[17]
Individuals can live at least 14.8 years in the wild; juveniles have higher mortality rates than adults, and females have higher mortality rates than males.[15]
Behavior
During the summer, the tricolored bat will roost in tree foliage or buildings, with females alone or in
In the winter, the tricolored bat
Diet and foraging
The tricolored bat is
Predators, parasites, and disease
The tricolored bat's natural predators include the northern leopard frog, birds of prey, raccoons, snakes, skunks, and prairie voles.[13][15] Feral cats will also catch and kill them as they leave their hibernacula (cave or mine used for hibernation).[17] There are also records of it being attacked by the hoary bat.[15][24] The tricolored bat is the host to several species of endoparasites (internal parasites) and ectoparasites. Oocysts (spores) of an Eimeria species (Eimeria heidti ) have been recovered from its guano (feces).[25]
The tricolored bat has experienced severe population decline as a result of the fungal disease white-nose syndrome, which arrived in the US in 2006, with losses of 70% and greater detected in multiple US states.[26] The disease kills bats by colonizing their skin during the winter, causing them to arouse from torpor and burn through their limited fat reserves. Though its population experienced dramatic reduction, subsequent studies have found that their numbers may be stabilizing, though hibernacula where many individuals once roosted may only host fewer than five bats, or even one solitarily.[27]
Range and habitat
The tricolored bat is common throughout eastern North America, with the southern extent of its range in Central America and the northern extent in southern Canada. Its range has expanded since the 1980s, with westward expansion reaching the US states of Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Additionally, its range started to include the Great Lakes Basin.[18]
Conservation
As of 2018, it is listed as a
Relationship to people
Along with the silver-haired bat, the tricolored bat is one of two species of bat whose rabies variants are responsible for 70% of human rabies cases from bats in the US.[32] Additionally, the rabies virus variants associated with these two species caused 75% of cryptic rabies deaths in the US (rabies cases where the exposure route is unclear, and no bite history exists).[32] From 1958–2000, sixteen people in the US died from the rabies variant associated with tricolored bats, or 46% of all nationwide indigenous (not acquired elsewhere) rabies fatalities.[32] The tricolored bat is infrequently encountered by humans and submitted for rabies testing, with only thirty-one individuals tested for rabies in the US in 2017. Of those, one (3.4%) tested positive for the virus.[33]
See also
- Bats of Canada
- Bats of the United States
References
- ^ . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
- ^ "Mammals of Texas". www.depts.ttu.edu. Texas Tech University. Retrieved 17 October 2023.
- ^ "Perimyotis subflavus". Bat Conservation International. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
- ^ Cuvier, F. (1832). "Essai de classification naturelle Des Vespertilions, et description de plusieurs especes de ce genre" [Natural classification test of the Vespertilions, and description of several species of this genus]. Nouvelles annales du Muséum d'histoire naturelle (in French). 1.
- ^ Miller, G. S. (1897). "Revision of the North American bats of the family Vespertilionidae". North American Fauna (13): 90–92.
- ^ a b "Tri-colored bat". ODNR Division of Wildlife. Retrieved 3 November 2019.
- S2CID 84628098.
- hdl:11244/44678.
- ^ a b "Perimyotis subflavus". ITIS. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ "Perimyotis subflavus". ASM Mammal Diversity Database. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- .
- ^ "ITIS - Report: Perimyotini". www.itis.gov. Retrieved 2021-09-17.
- ^ ISBN 978-954-642-303-0.
- ^ "Natural history: Tricolored bat". Center for Biological Diversity. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4214-0843-9.
- ISBN 978-0-253-00151-1. Retrieved 21 September 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f Eastern pipistrelle (Perimyotis subflavus) Species Guidance (PDF) (Report). Wisconsin DNR. 23 June 2017. PUB ER-706. Retrieved 20 September 2019.
- ^ PMID 22384019.
- doi:10.1644/BEM-021.
- S2CID 86543052.
- S2CID 59330511.
- ^ Vincent, E. A.; Whitaker Jr, J. O. (2007). "Hibernation of the Eastern Pipistrelle Perimyotis subflavus, in an Abandoned Mine in Vermillion County, Indiana, with Some Information on Myotis lucifugus". Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science. 116 (1).
- ^ a b "Species Profiles: Perimyotis subflavus". batcon.org. Bat Conservation International. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- S2CID 2766160.
- PMID 21506799.
- PMID 31235813.
- PMID 27992970.
- ^ "Tri-colored bat (Perimyotis subflavus): technical summary and supporting information 2012". Government of Canada. February 2012. Retrieved 24 September 2019.
- ^ US Fish and Wildlife Service (20 December 2017). Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 90-Day Findings for Five Species (PDF) (Report). Vol. 82. Federal Register. 4500030115.
- ^ United States Fish and Wildlife Service (September 13, 2022). "Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Endangered Species Status for Tricolored Bat" (PDF).
- ^ "Tricolored Bats Proposed for Endangered Species Act Protection". Center for Biological Diversity. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
- ^ PMID 12603983.
- PMID 30668262.
External links
- Media related to Pipistrellus subflavus at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Perimyotis subflavus at Wikispecies