Evening bat

Description

The evening bat (Nycticeius humeralis) is a species of bat in the vesper bat family that is native to North America. Hunting at night, they eat beetles, moths, and other flying insects. The evening bat is a small bat (7–15 grams)found throughout much of the midwestern and eastern United States. Their forearms are 34–38 mm (1.33 in) in length. The tip of each dorsal hair is a light gray, and one to two-thirds of the basal is dark brown. Though there have been some cases of white pelage, the majority of the population is mostly brown in color.They have wide, dog-like muzzles, pronounced facial glands, and disproportionately large bacula. Evening bats can be mistaken for juvenile big brown bats, due to their physical resemblance but smaller size. At first, the evening bat was thought of as a southeastern bat species. However, breeding evening bats have been found as far north as Michigan and as far west as the 100th meridian. Evening bats roost in a variety of structures, including Spanish moss, under bark, in tree cavities, and in buildings.For foraging habitat, evening bats in Georgia prefer pine forest, riparian zones, and open fields.Evening bats have home ranges of approximately 300 hectare (1.15 mi2). Because the evening bat is not found in the northernmost extent of its range in the winter, it is likely that at least some evening bats are migratory. Evening bats mate in the fall and winter; the sperm is stored until the spring, when fertilization occurs.Female bats form maternity colonies in May,consisting of 15-300 individuals. Of females that give birth, 90% have twins, but singletons and triplets are also possible. Though it is more common for evening bats to nurse their own offspring,a small proportion of offspring are nursed by unrelated females. The pups are capable of flight within a month of birth.Pups are weaned within 42 days of birth. Female pups exhibit natal philopatry, meaning that as adults, they return to the roost where they were born to give birth.