Spotted bat
| Euderma maculatum | |
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| Side view | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Vespertilionidae |
| Tribe: | Plecotini |
| Genus: | Euderma H. Allen, 1892 |
| Species: | E. maculatum
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| Binomial name | |
| Euderma maculatum (Allen, 1891)
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| Synonyms | |
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Euderma maculata (Allen, 1891) | |
The spotted bat (Euderma maculatum) is a species of vesper bat and the only species of the genus Euderma.
Description[edit]
The spotted bat was first described by zoologist Joel Asaph Allen from the American Museum of Natural History in 1891. It can reach a length of 12 cm and a wingspan of 35 cm. The weight is about 15 g. It has three distinctive white spots on its black back. With ears that can grow up to 4 cm, it is said to have the largest ears of any bat species in North America.[2] The spotted bat's mating season is in autumn and the females produce their offspring (usually one juvenile) in June or July. Its main diet is grasshoppers and moths.
Habitat and distribution[edit]
The spotted bat is a largely Western North American species, typically found west of the Rocky Mountains, from southern British Columbia to the U.S.-Mexico Border of Arizona and California—although sightings have occurred as far away as southwestern Montana, near Bozeman, and as far south as Pachuca (Hidalgo), México.[3] The species' favored habitat varies, from undisturbed cliffside roosts along the Grand Canyon, in Arizona, to open and dense deciduous and coniferous forests as far north as southern British Columbia. Additionally, the species may be found in hay fields, deserts, marshes, riparian zones, or chaparral habitats.
Some of the most northerly sightings of the spotted bat have taken place in Canada, near Cache Creek and Vancouver, British Columbia; however, it is primarily known from the states of California, Arizona and Nevada, as well as parts of western Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, New Mexico, Utah and Washington.[3]
Threats[edit]
Use of pesticides such as DDT and other insecticides in the 1960s led to a severe decline in the spotted bat population, but current observations had shown that it is more common than formerly believed. Abundance, population trend, and threats are widely unknown.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ Arroyo-Cabrales, J.; Álvarez-Castañeda, S.T. (2017). "Euderma maculatum". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2017: e.T8166A22028573. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T8166A22028573.en. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- ^ "Classify a Chiropteran" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-12-21. Retrieved 2010-02-08.
- ^ a b "Observations • iNaturalist".
Further reading[edit]
- David J. Schmidly, William B. Davis: The mammals of Texas University of Texas Press, 2004 ISBN 978-0-292-70241-7
- B. J. Verts, Leslie N. Carraway: Land mammals of Oregon. University of California Press, 1998 ISBN 9780520211995
External links[edit]
| Authority control databases: National |
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- IUCN Red List least concern species
- Vesper bats
- Bats of the United States
- Bats of Canada
- Fauna of the Western United States
- Fauna of the Colorado Desert
- Fauna of the Mojave Desert
- Fauna of the Great Basin
- Fauna of the Sonoran Desert
- Fauna of the California chaparral and woodlands
- Taxa named by Harrison Allen
- Mammals described in 1891