Vespertilionid Bats: Vespertilionidae

Physical characteristics: Unlike many of the dark-furred, small-eyed vespertilionid bats, the pallid bat is yellowish with larger eyes. It also has large ears. Adult size ranges from 3.6 to 5.5 inches (9.2 to 14 centimeters) in body length and 0.5 to 1 ounce (13 to 29 grams) in weight. Its tail is a little more than a third of its body length.

Geographic range: The pallid bat lives in western North America from southern Canada to northern Mexico, also western Cuba.

Habitat: Their daytime roosts are in cracks and crevices of rocky outcroppings and in caves, usually near a water source. At night, they The pallid bat eats insects, scorpions, and other invertebrates, and possibly small lizards and mammals, such as mice. (© Merlin D. Tuttle/Bat Conservation International/Photo Researchers, Inc. Reproduced by permission.) typically roost nearby in tree hollows, under bridges, or in some other hiding place.

Diet: These bats eat insects, scorpions, and other invertebrates (animals without backbones); possibly small lizards and mammals, such as mice.

Behavior and reproduction: They leave their daytime roosts after sunset, then begin looking for insects by flying between about 1 and 7 feet (30 centimeters to 2.1 meters) above the ground. They mate in fall to early winter, and females give birth to one or two pups in late spring to early summer. The young stay with their mothers in maternity roosts, and begin flying about a month and a half later.

Pallid bats and people: This species visits plants, probably in search of insects. In so doing, it picks up and delivers pollen, which helps fertilize plants.

Conservation status: The pallid bat is not threatened. ∎