Most of the many

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

species found in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

are insectivorous except for three flower eating species that migrate from Mexico and one that inhabits the Florida Keys. __TOC__

Species

Big brown bat eats a meal worm (7241384196)

Bats belong to the biological order of Chiroptera. The bat families found in North America are

Vespertilionidae Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat familie ...

, Molossidae,

Mormoopidae The family Mormoopidae contains bats known generally as mustached bats, ghost-faced bats, and naked-backed bats. They are found in the Americas from the Southwestern United States to Southeastern Brazil. They are distinguished by the presence ...

and Phyllostomidae.

Molossidae

Florida bonneted bat The Florida bonneted bat or Florida mastiff bat (''Eumops floridanus'') is a species of bat in the genus ''Eumops'', the bonneted bats or mastiff bats. Until recently, it was classified as a subspecies of Wagner's bonneted bat (''Eumops glaucinu ...

''Eumops floridanus'' *

Wagner's bonneted bat Wagner's bonneted bat or Wagner's mastiff batBest, T. L., et al. (1997)''Eumops glaucinus''. ''Mammalian Species'' 551, 1-6. (''Eumops glaucinus''), is a species of bat in the family Molossidae. It is found in the Americas from Argentina and Peru ...

''Eumops glaucinis'' * Western mastiff bat ''Eumops perotis'' * Underwood's bonneted bat ''Eumops underwoodi'' *

Velvety free-tailed bat The velvety free-tailed bat or Pallas's mastiff bat (''Molossus molossus''), is a bat species in the family Molossidae. Description ''M. molossus'' is a medium-sized bat, with a length of and with a wingspan of . This species is brown in color ...

''Molossus molossus'' *

Pocketed free-tailed bat The pocketed free-tailed bat (''Nyctinomops femorosaccus'') is a species of bat in the family Molossidae found in Mexico and in Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas in the United States. They resemble the Brazilian free-tailed bat (''Tadar ...

''Nyctinomops femorosaccus'' *

Big free-tailed bat The big free-tailed bat (''Nyctinomops macrotis'') is a bat species found in the Americas. Taxonomy It was described as a new species in 1839 by British zoologist John Edward Gray. Gray placed it in the now-defunct genus ''Nyctinomus'', with a ...

''Nyctinomops macrotis'' * Mexican free-tailed bat ''Tadarida brasiliensis''

Mormoopidae

* Ghost-faced bat ''Mormoops megalophylla''

Phyllostomidae

* Jamaican fruit bat ''Artibeus jamaicensis'' (Florida Keys only) *

Mexican long-tongued bat The Mexican long-tongued bat (''Choeronycteris mexicana'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is monotypic, the only species within the genus ''Choeronycteris''. The species is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, ...

''Choeronycteris mexicana'' *

Mexican long-nosed bat The greater long-nosed bat or Mexican long-nosed bat (''Leptonycteris nivalis'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. It chiefly consumes pollen and nectar, particularly from agave plant ...

''Leptonycteris nivalis'' *

California leaf-nosed bat The California leaf-nosed bat (''Macrotus californicus'') is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is found in Mexico and the United States. Its natural habitat is hot deserts. Habitat California leaf-nosed bats can be found in S ...

''Macrotus californicus''

Vespertilionidae

* Pallid bat ''Antrozous pallidus'' *

Rafinesque's big-eared bat Rafinesque's big-eared bat (''Corynorhinus rafinesquii''), sometimes known as the southeastern big-eared bat, is a species of vesper bat native to the southeastern United States. Description As its name implies, this species has ears over an in ...

''Corynorhinus rafinesquii'' *

Townsend's big-eared bat Townsend's big-eared bat (''Corynorhinus townsendii'') is a species of vesper bat. Description Townsend's big-eared bat is a medium-sized bat (7-12 g)

''Corynorhinus townsendii'' * Big brown bat ''Eptesicus fuscus'' *

Spotted bat The spotted bat (''Euderma maculatum'') is a species of vesper bat and the only species of the genus ''Euderma''. Description The spotted bat was first described by zoologist Joel Asaph Allen from the American Museum of Natural History in 1891. ...

''Euderma maculatum'' *

Allen's big-eared bat Allen's big-eared bat (''Idionycteris phyllotis'') is a species of vesper bat in the monotypic genus ''Idionycteris''. It occurs in Mexico and in Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and ColoradoHayes, M. A., et al. (2009)Allen's big-ea ...

''Idionycteris phyllotis'' *

Silver-haired bat The silver-haired bat (''Lasionycteris noctivagans'') is a solitary migratory species of vesper bat in the family Vespertilionidae and the only member of the genus ''Lasionycteris''. Etymology The species name translates as night-wandering, ref ...

''Lasionycteris noctivagans'' *

Western red bat The western red bat or desert red bat (''Lasiurus frantzii'') is a species of microbat in the family Vespertilionidae. It is found in western North America and Central America. Taxonomy Previously, it was believed to be a subspecies of the ...

''Lasiurus blossevillii'' *

Eastern red bat The eastern red bat (''Lasiurus borealis'') is a species of microbat in the family Vespertilionidae. Eastern red bats are widespread across eastern North America, with additional records in Bermuda. Taxonomy and etymology It was described in 1 ...

''Lasiurus borealis'' *

Hoary bat The hoary bat (''Lasiurus cinereus'') is a species of bat in the vesper bat family, Vespertilionidae. It lives throughout most of North America (possibly including Hawaii, although this is disputed). Taxonomy The hoary bat was described as a ...

''Lasiurus cinereus'' *

Southern yellow bat The southern yellow bat (''Dasypterus ega'') is a species of vesper bat that belongs to suborder microchiroptera (microbat) in the family Vespertilionidae. It is native to South, North and Central America, from the Rio Grande Valley of Texas i ...

''Lasiurus ega'' *

Seminole bat The Seminole bat (''Lasiurus seminolus'') is a species of bat in the family Vespertilionidae. Taxonomy The Seminole bat was first described in 1895 by Samuel N. Rhoads. The holotype had been collected in Tarpon Springs, Florida in 1892 by Wi ...

''Lasiurus seminolus'' *

Southwestern myotis The southwestern myotis (''Myotis auriculus'') is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Guatemala, Mexico, and in Arizona and New Mexico in the United States. Taxonomy The southwestern myotis is a member of the order Chiroptera and the famil ...

''Myotis auriculus'' *

Southeastern myotis The southeastern myotis (''Myotis austroriparius'') is a small bat found throughout the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Lower Mississippi Alluvial Plain of the southeastern United States. Description The southeastern myotis weighs 5–8 g. Its die ...

''Myotis austroriparius'' * California myotis ''Myotis californicus'' *

Western small-footed myotis The western small-footed bat (''Myotis ciliolabrum''), also known as the western small-footed myotis, is a species of vesper bat native to North America. Description Western small-footed bats are relatively small bats, having a total length of , ...

''Myotis ciliolabrum'' *

Long-eared myotis The long-eared myotis (''Myotis evotis'') is a species of vesper bat in the suborder Microchiroptera. It can be found in western Canada, the western United States, and Baja California in Mexico. Description The long-eared myotis is a pale brown ...

''Myotis evotis'' * Gray bat ''Myotis grisescens'' *

Keen's myotis Keen's myotis (''Myotis keenii'') is a species of vesper bat. It is found in British Columbia in Canada and in Washington and Alaska in the United States. It is named after the Rev. John Henry Keen, who collected the specimen that formed the bas ...

''Myotis keenii'' *

Eastern small-footed myotis The eastern small-footed bat (''Myotis leibii'') is a species of vesper bat. It can be found in southern Ontario and Quebec in Canada and in mountainous portions of the eastern United States from New England to northern Georgia, and westward to n ...

''Myotis leibii'' * Little brown bat ''Myotis lucifugus'' *

Arizona myotis The Arizona myotis (''Myotis occultus'') is a vesper bat species inhabiting much of the southwestern United States and central Mexico as far south as the Distrito Federal. Taxonomy and etymology It was described as a new species in 1909 by Amer ...

''Myotis occultus'' *

Northern long-eared myotis ''Myotis septentrionalis'', known as the northern long-eared bat or northern myotis, is a species of bat native to North America. There are no recognized subspecies. The northern long-eared bat is about 3–3.7 inches in length, with a wingspan ...

''Myotis septentrionalis'' * Indiana bat ''Myotis sodalis'' *

Fringed myotis The fringed myotis (''Myotis thysanodes'') is a species of vesper bat that is found in British Columbia, Mexico, and the western United States. Description ''Myotis thysanodes,'' or the fringed myotis, has the shortest ears of the long-eared my ...

''Myotis thysanodes'' *

Cave myotis The cave myotis (''Myotis velifer'') is a species of vesper bat (''Vespertilionidae'') in the genus ''Mouse-eared bat, Myotis''. Description It is larger than most other bats in the ''Myotis'' group, with a forearm of . The bat is brown with sh ...

''Myotis velifer'' *

Long-legged myotis The long-legged myotis (''Myotis volans'') is a species of vesper bat that can be found in western Canada, Mexico, and the western United States. Description ''Myotis volans'' is a species of bat found in Order Chiroptera, Family Vespertillion ...

''Myotis volans'' *

Yuma myotis The Yuma myotis (''Myotis yumanensis'') is a species of vesper bat native to western North America. Description The Yuma myotis is a relatively small myotis, measuring in head-body length, with an average wingspan of and a weight of about . T ...

''Myotis yumanensis'' *

Evening bat The evening bat (''Nycticeius humeralis'') is a species of bat in the vesper bat family that is native to North America. Hunting at night, they eat beetles, moths, and other flying insects. Description The evening bat is a small bat weighin ...

''Nycticeius humeralis'' *

Canyon bat The canyon bat (''Parastrellus hesperus''), also known as the western pipistrelle, is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Mexico and in the western United States. The species has historically been placed in the genus ''Pipistrellus ''Pip ...

''Parastrellus hesperus'' *

Tricolored bat The tricolored bat (''Perimyotis subflavus'') is a species of microbat native to eastern North America. Formerly known as the eastern pipistrelle, based on the incorrect belief that it was closely related to European ''Pipistrellus'' species, th ...

''Perimyotis subflavus''

Notable bat roosts

In 2009 the Grandview Mine in the

Grand Canyon National Park Grand Canyon National Park, located in northwestern Arizona, is the 15th site in the United States to have been named as a national park. The park's central feature is the Grand Canyon, a gorge of the Colorado River, which is often consider ...

had gates added to support on-going bat research, preserve historic mine resources, and promote visitor safety. The Ann W. Richards Congress Avenue Bridge, which crosses over Lady Bird Lake in Austin, Texas, is the world's largest urban bat colony. Seventeen species of bats live in the

Carlsbad Caverns National Park Carlsbad Caverns National Park is an American national park in the Guadalupe Mountains of southeastern New Mexico. The primary attraction of the park is the show cave Carlsbad Cavern. Visitors to the cave can hike in on their own via the natura ...

, including a large number of Mexican free-tailed bats. It has been estimated that the population of Mexican free-tailed bats once numbered in the millions but has declined drastically in modern times. The cause of this decline is unknown but the pesticide

DDT Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, commonly known as DDT, is a colorless, tasteless, and almost odorless crystalline chemical compound, an organochloride. Originally developed as an insecticide, it became infamous for its environmental impacts. ...

is often listed as a primary cause.

State insignia

As of February 2011, at least three states had an official bat. Hawai'i named the Hawaiian hoary bat as the official state land mammal in April 2015. The general assembly of

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

considered a bill in 2007 that would have made

as its state bat. The bill passed 92-15, but died in the state senate.

References

External links

Bat facts
at the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Selected list of publications on bats
{{USStateLists *Bats