This species of bat is harmless to humans. In fact, the little brown bat uses echo-location to hunt and eat its body weight in insects per night, proving itself quite helpful for eliminating insect pests.
But, this small bat isn’t all that picky, he’ll eat any number of insect pests in the yard or garden. Indeed, he has won the hearts of many food growers due to his voracious appetite for insects that could otherwise destroy valuable crops.
The Fascinating Bat
Bats find their food easily using a sophisticated sense called echolocation (a high-frequency pitch). When he does locate an insect, the bat snags his prey with its wings and tail membranes.
This forms a pouch as the membranes come together so he can snatch the insect from the pouch and have dinner. Because the echolocation is so precise, a little brown bat rarely hits an object – this includes people.
The little brown bat is most often described as a mouse with wings, although the two aren’t even distantly related. Like the rest of the vesper family, the little brown bat is characterized by having an ear tragus, and without a nose-leaf. The vesper family are also evening bats, insect eaters.
Myotis lucifugus has brownish-black fur that has a glossy sheen to it and a belly that is grey-brown. The bat’s feet are mainly for clinging while it roosts. The wings of a bat are superbly constructed and include four fingers and a thumb. At the end of the thumb is a hooked claw, which serves to help the bat climb and crawl along surfaces.
Between the toes is a thin membrane, so transparent that one can read through it. The membrane or patagium, is fragile and tears easily. When the bat closes its wings the patagium folds up resembling crepe paper.
Are Bats Blind?
No. Bats can not only see, they have very average eyesight. The myth most likely began when people saw their erratic flight behavior at night as they chased insects. Bats don't, however, have great night vision as so many other animals do. They use their sonar-type senses (echo-location) to "see" insects in the night.
The Habitat of Little Brown Myotis
This helpful bat is native throughout most of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. He lives in numerous habitats including forests, woodlands, urban, suburban, and riparian areas. They particularly enjoy being near bodies of water that are sure to be hatching a smorgasbord of insects come spring.
The little brown bat roosts most of the day, and is most active while it hunts for food 2-3 hours after sunset. Roosting places that attract the little brown bat include tree hollows, snags, caves, tunnels, man-made structures, and abandoned mines.
Little Brown Bat Stats
- Order: Chiroptera (Bats)
- Genus: Myotis
- Family: Vesperilionidae (Vesper)
- Species: Myotis lucifugus
- Length: Average body is 3 ½ inches long, with the females being a little larger than the males.
- Wingspan: 8-10 inches wide
- Weight: Average weight is about ¼ ounce.
- Lifespan: 7-10 years +
- Diet: Insectivore; their food consists of mosquitoes, midges, spiders, moths, hoppers, small beetles, and caddisflies.
- Habits: Little brown bats roost in the daylight hours but come out to hunt for food after sunset. They hibernate September/October – April/May
- Population: 100,000 – 1,000,000
- Conservation Status: Not Endangered
- Threats: Little brown bats have no natural enemies. Their only threat comes from humans. Human threats include deforestation, pesticide use, the use of cyanide while mining, destruction of caves, bat collection for experimentation, and control measures used on nursery colonies.
Little Brown Bat Reproduction
Bats have an interesting life-cycle in the fact that while mating occurs in the fall, true fertilization is held over until the spring. The female’s gestation lasts about 80 days and then the young are born May – July naked and blind. Bat populations increase fairly slowly due to the fact that the female gives birth to one usually on and occasionally, two offspring.
It’s interesting to note that the mother bat, while spending most of her roosting time upside-down, gives birth right-side up! The baby bats crawl up the mother’s belly and latches onto a teat for about two weeks. The babies may ride along on mom or stay hanging in the roost until they are about 4 weeks old. Then they take flight and are on their own.
The colonies that are traditionally thought of hanging around in caves together – and may have bat numbers in the thousands – are mothers and their babies. While the male bats also roost during the day, they are solitary in this behavior. Another difference in the roosting areas of the opposite sexes is that the chosen nursery roost is in warmer areas such as buildings, attic, loft, and other well insulated areas.
Bats deserve our admiration and curiosity, if not our affection. They are not only great at monitoring the insect populations; they are so good at environmental adaptation that the species has survived more than 50 thousand years.
Chris McLaughlin - Chris McLaughlin's gardening books include "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Heirloom Vegetables." Check out her complete profile.
