Little Brown Bat

• It has suffered a devastating population collapse in north-eastern North America through white-nose syndrome, a fungal disease.
• It eats mosquitoes, moths, beetles and other insects caught in flight by echolocation.
• It lives in temperate woodland, caves, mines and buildings across much of North America.
• alimentaciónIn a single night it can eat insects amounting to half its own body weight, playing a real part in natural pest control.

Skeleton type

Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)

Habitat and environment

Temperate woodland, caves, mines and buildings across much of North America, from Alaska to central Mexico

Birth weight

Weight at birth not found as a precise figure

Size at birth

Tiny at birth

Sexual maturity

~1 year

Gestation / incubation

50-60 days (with delayed fertilisation, the sperm stored over winter)

Litter / clutch size

1 young per litter

Life expectancy in captivity

Documented record of up to 34 years in a ringed individual in the wild

Sources consulted: Animal Diversity Web; A-Z Animals; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; AnAge (genomics.senescence.info); Animalia.bio; Brain Museum (MSU); Conserve Wildlife NJ; National Wildlife Federation

Best time: From May to August, at dusk, near water; between October and April it hibernates in caves and mines.