 Bats
of Indiana
Eastern pipistrelle
Bat
Eastern pipistrelle bat flying near Wyandotte
Caves
(Drawing by CES Media Club)
| Scientific
Name: Pipistrellus
subflavus Description:
The
Eastern Pipistrelle is a small bat. It
weighs between 6-8 grams and is between
3-4 inches long. It has light-brown to
reddish hair. The wingspan is between
8-10 inches.
Population:
The
numbers are not exactly known, but they
are commonly found throughout their
range. (see range below)
Food: These bats
like to eat insects such as moths,
mosquitoes, true bugs, and beetles. They
use echolocation (high-pitched sounds) to
locate the insects they eat.
***TO
LISTEN TO THE EASTERN PIPISTRELLE CLICK
HERE!***
Range:
These
bats live in the eastern United States,
up through eastern Canada, and down
through eastern Mexico.
Reproduction:
These
bats mate in the fall of the year. They
give birth at the end of May to early
June. They usually have twins. The babies
are independent at about five weeks.
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The Eastern pipistrelle bat is a bat that
hibernates in Wyandotte Caves.
Entrance of Historic (Big)
Wyandotte Cave
(CES Media Club)
We saw a few just beginning to go into Siberts
Cave (small
Wyandotte) when we were there in September. One
was
even hanging from the ceiling trying to get a bit
of sleep (below).
An Eastern pipistrelle bat
hibernating in Wyandotte Caves.
(CES Media Club)
They spend their days in caves, hollows of trees,
open buildings, and other places where they are
concealed.
Eastern pipistrelles fly out early in the evening
to forage
for their food (insects). They usually do this in
the early
part of the evening. They forage around watery
areas
like ponds, lakes, or even rivers. They sort of
flutter when
they are getting their food in an erratic
pattern.
This photograph
below shows the small size of the
average Eastern pipistrelle bat. You can see
very well his tail and wings. It is like they are
netting to help him scoop up his prey.
Eastern pipistrelle
(photograph courtesy of Dr. Clark McCreedy)
Like all hibernating
bats, if they are disturbed during
hibernation, they will burn their energy and
because there
are no insects in the winter they will starve.
That is why it is important that they are
protected.
Eastern pipistrelle
hibernating on the
ceiling of Wyandotte (Siberts) Cave
(drawing by CES Media Club)
*****************
References/Resources
Drawings
of Eastern pipistrelle by
CES Media Club
First
photograph of the Eastern pipistrelle
courtesy of Dr. Clark McCreedy
All other photographs belong to
CES Media Club
BOOKS:
Bats
of the United States
by
Michael J. Harvey, J. Scott Altenbach,
and Troy L. Best, Arkansas Game
& Fish Commission and the U. S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, copyright 1999
Those
Amazing Bats by
Cheryl Mays Halton
Dillon Press, New York copyright 1991
WEBSITES:
Kentucky
Bat Working Group
http://www.biology.eku.edu/bats.htm
Wyandotte Caves
http://www.wyandottecaves.com
Bat
Conservation International
http://www.batcon.org
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Comments? Questions?
You can e-mail us at:
jgoble@cannelton.k12.in.us
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