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 & 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

Lifespan 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.