Mammals · Chiroptera · Vespertilionidae

Serotine

Eptesicus serotinus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk. See full glossary

Its name comes from the Latin serotinus, 'of the evening' or 'late', after its habit of emerging relatively early at dusk. It is one of Europe's main reservoirs of European bat lyssavirus type 1.

Weight

15 g – 35 g

Size

5.8 cm – 8 cm

Lifespan

8 years

Diet

Insectivore

Feeds mainly on insects and other invertebrates.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Easy

Temperate forestGrasslandInsectivore Nocturnal Colonial Temperate forest Grassland Mammal

47countries 76parks14same family

Fun facts

Its name means 'of the evening' in Latin, after its habit of emerging early at dusk.
It roosts mainly in old buildings around farmland and villages.
It can live for years exposed to EBLV-1 lyssavirus without necessarily falling ill.

Life cycle & biology

Skeleton type: Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (mammal)
Habitat & environment: Farmland, parks, villages and woodland edges across much of temperate Eurasia, roosting mainly in old buildings
Birth weight: Exact weight at birth not found as a precise figure
Size at birth: The young naked at birth, clinging to its mother for the first few days
Sexual maturity: Not precisely known (its breeding biology is poorly documented)
Gestation / incubation: Duration not specified as a precise figure
Litter / clutch size: 1 young per litter (almost always a single)

Sources consulted: The Wildlife Trusts; First-Nature; Green Cross Nature; Woodland Trust; iNaturalist; PMC (EBLV-1 maternity colonies survival study); Wikipedia (Serotine bat)