To date, thirty-three species of Israeli bats have been identified, of which 32 are

insectivorous bats A robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivorous animal or plant that eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the human practice of eating insects. The first vertebrate insectivores were ...

. The largest bat hibernation site in Israel is the Twins Cave near

Beit Shemesh Beit Shemesh ( he, בֵּית שֶׁמֶשׁ ) is a city located approximately west of Jerusalem in Israel's Jerusalem District, with a population of in . History Tel Beit Shemesh The small archaeological tell northeast of the modern city wa ...

. One-third of the species of bats of Israel are found in the

Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley ( ar, غور الأردن, ''Ghor al-Urdun''; he, עֵמֶק הַיַרְדֵּן, ''Emek HaYarden'') forms part of the larger Jordan Rift Valley. Unlike most other river valleys, the term "Jordan Valley" often applies just to ...

region, with many inhabiting abandoned Israeli military outposts along the border with

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

. Beginning in the 1950s, bat caves in Israel were routinely fumigated to reduce the number of fruit bats in the country. As the population of fruit bats declined, so did that of other bat species. Consequently, the number of

noctuid moth The Noctuidae, commonly known as owlet moths, cutworms or armyworms, are a family of moths. They are considered the most controversial family in the superfamily Noctuoidea because many of the clades are constantly changing, along with the other f ...

s soared, resulting in extensive damage to crops.

Bat caves

The largest bat hibernation site in Israel is the Twins Cave, south of

. The cave is a

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

ic formation measuring and takes its name from a local Arab legend about a woman who drank from a spring in the cave and subsequently gave birth to a pair of twins. The cave forms part of the Twins Cave Nature Reserve.

List of bats of Israel

Insectivorous bats

Fruit bats

*''

Rousettus aegyptiacus The Egyptian fruit bat or Egyptian rousette (''Rousettus aegyptiacus'') is a species of megabat that is found in Africa, the Middle East, the Mediterranean, and the Indian subcontinent. It is one of three ''Rousettus'' species with an African-Ma ...

References

External links

Analysis of the distribution of insectivorous bats in Israel
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170220175602/http://acn.com.ve/ , date=2017-02-20 –

Tel Aviv University Tel Aviv University (TAU) ( he, אוּנִיבֶרְסִיטַת תֵּל אָבִיב, ''Universitat Tel Aviv'') is a public research university in Tel Aviv, Israel. With over 30,000 students, it is the largest university in the country. Locate ...

, Department of Zoology

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

Fauna of Israel