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| Hoary bat |
| Lasiurus cinereus |
| Most of North and Central
America |
| Any |
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The
Hoary bat is one of the largest bats in North America growing up to 5" long
with a wingspan of up to 16". They can weigh up to 1 ounce. The Hoary bat
is the only native land mammal from Hawaii.
Mostly found roosting in a tree. However they will also utilize caves and
cracks in rocks.
Hoary bats are insectivore so they only eat insects. Including moths,
mosquitoes, and
wasps. Usually hunting above the tree canopy they
emerge after dark. They find their food using
echolocation.
Bats are the only members of the mammal family that can fly. Like all
mammals they have fur and are warm blooded. They also give live birth and
produce milk for their babies. Bats are in the scientific order Chiroptera (kie-rop-ter-a), which means
'hand-wing' and are known to live from 10 to 32 years.
While most people generally think of bats living in caves, in the summer
time bats actually live behind bark, in tree's, jungles, and man made
structures such as buildings, barns, and bridges.
Bats provide an extremely important service for the environment in that they
eat large quantities insects. In fact some bats can eat as many as 1,200
insects in one hour. Since some insects such as misquotes carry diseases
including the West Nile Virus and other insects like Cucumber Beatles and moths
can cause severe crop damage, bats are doing humans a huge favor as well.
Bat Facts:
• There are more than 1,100 bat species.
• 70% of bats are insectivores.
• Bats make up almost 25% of all mammal species.
• a single brown bat can catch more than 1,200 insects per hour
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