Species: Myotis volans

Long-legged Myotis
Species

    Articles:

    Long-legged Myotis (Myotis volans)

    This article originally appeared in the State of Washington Bat Conservation Plan. Further information is available from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

    Image copyright Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org
    Report: Washington State Bat Conservation Plan

    The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife recently released a Bat Conservation Plan for the 15 species of bats found in Washington State. All but four of these species occur within the greater Puget Sound watershed1, including:

    Fringed Myotis. Photo © Merlin D. Tuttle, Bat Conservation International, www.batcon.org
    Kingdom
    Animalia
    Phylum
    Craniata
    Class

    Mammalia

    Order

    Chiroptera

    Family

    Vespertilionidae

    Genus

    Myotis

    Classification
    Other Global Common Names
    Long-legged Bat - Un Murciélago - chauve-souris à longues pattes
    Informal Taxonomy
    Animals, Vertebrates - Mammals - Bats
    Formal Taxonomy
    Animalia - Craniata - Mammalia - Chiroptera - Vespertilionidae - Myotis - from southeastern Alaska, British Columbia and Alberta southwest to western California.
    Short General Description
    A small bat (long-legged myotis).
    Migration
    false - false - false - Adults and young leave the maternity colonies in fall but nothing is known of their subsequent movements (Barbour and Davis 1969).
    Non-migrant
    false
    Locally Migrant
    false
    Food Comments
    Feeds primarily on moths. Also consumes a wide variety of invertebrates: fleas, termites, lacewings, wasps, small beetles, etc. (Warner and Czaplewski 1984). Follows prey for relatively long distances around, through, over forest canopy, forest clearings, and over water. In New Mexico, forages primarily in open areas, feeds mainly on small moths (Black 1974).
    Reproduction Comments
    In New Mexico, copulation was noted to begin in late August; sperm stored overwinter in female reproductive tract; ovulation occurred March-May, parturition May-August (Black 1974). Births probably occur in June or early July in Texas (Schmidly 1991). Litter size: 1. Nursery colonies may include up to several hundred individuals.
    Ecology Comments
    In many areas this <i>Myotis</i> may be the most abundant species; it is the common <i>Myotis</i> in the western U.S. Life span of 21 years recorded in the wild.
    Length
    10
    NatureServe Global Status Rank
    G5
    Global Status Last Reviewed
    2008-01-04
    Global Status Last Changed
    1998-08-04
    Other Status

    LC - Least concern

    Conservation Status Map
    <img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S2&CA.BC=S4&CA.NT=S2&US.AK=__&US.AZ=S3&US.CA=S4&US.CO=S5&US.ID=S3&US.MT=S4&US.NN=S4&US.NE=S1&US.NV=S4&US.NM=S5&US.ND=SU&US.OR=S3&US.SD=S5&US.TX=S4&US.UT=S4&US.WA=S3&US.WY=S3" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
    Global Range
    H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Range includes western North America from southwestern Alaska, British Columbia, and Alberta south to Baja California and central Mexico (Jalisco, Veracruz, Nuevo Leon). This species occurs throughout the western United States from the Pacific coast to western North Dakota and extreme western Texas (Barbour and Davis 1969, Western Bat Working Group 1998, Bat Conservation International 1998, Adams 2003, Reid 2006).
    Global Range Code
    H
    Global Range Description
    >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
    ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102173