Little Brown Bat

Order: Chiroptera

Family: Vespertilionidae

Genus: Myotinae

Species: M. lucifugus

Identifying Characteristics:

- Fur: uniformly dark brown and glossy on the back and upper parts with slightly paler, greyish fur underneath.

-Wing membranes are dark brown on a typical wingspan of 22–27 cm (8.7–11 in)

-Ears are small and black with a short, rounded tragus

-Adult bats are typically 6–10 cm (2.4–3.9 in) long and weigh 5–14 grams (0.2–0.5 oz)

-All teeth including molars are relatively sharp, as is typical for aninsectivore, and canines are prominent to enable grasping hard-bodied insects in flight.

Special Adaptations:

-Little brown bats are insectivores, eating moths, wasps, beetles,gnats, mosquitoes, midges and mayflies, among others.

- Since many of their preferred meals are insects with an aquatic life stage, such as mosquitoes, they prefer to roost near water

-The little brown bat is found all over North America from northernMexico to interior Alaska. It is the most abundant bat found in theUnited States and Canada.

-Most temperate bats either migrate or hibernate, but little brown bats do both. In summer, the males and females live apart, the females raising young. When fall comes, both sexes fly south to a hibernaculum, where they mate and then hibernate.