Kuhl's pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus kuhlii'') is a species of

vesper bat 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 famili ...

that occurs in large areas of

North Africa North Africa (sometimes Northern Africa) is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region. However, it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of t ...

Southern Europe Southern Europe is also known as Mediterranean Europe, as its geography is marked by the Mediterranean Sea. Definitions of southern Europe include some or all of these countries and regions: Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, C ...

and

West Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

. It lives in temperate forests, subtropical or tropical dry

shrubland Shrubland, scrubland, scrub, brush, or bush is a plant community characterized by vegetation dominance (ecology), dominated by shrubs, often also including grasses, herbaceous plant, herbs, and geophytes. Shrubland may either occur naturally o ...

, Mediterranean-type shrubby vegetation, temperate grassland, rural gardens, and urban areas.

Taxonomy

Kuhl's pipistrelle was first described in 1817, under the name ''Vespertilio kuhlii'', in a work by

Heinrich Kuhl Heinrich Kuhl (17 September 1797 – 14 September 1821) was a German people, German naturalist and zoologist. Kuhl was born in Hanau (Hesse, Germany). Between 1817 and 1820, he was the assistant of professor Th. van Swinderen, docent of natural ...

entitled ' ("The bats of Germany"). The

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

was chosen by Johann Natterer, who had collected the first specimens, and commemorates Kuhl; under the rules of the

International Code of Zoological Nomenclature The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted Convention (norm), convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific name, scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the I ...

, however, Kuhl himself is regarded as the authority, as the first to report the name. The population in

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

was formerly known as ''Pipistrellus deserti'', which is now considered to be a

junior synonym In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''Pipistrellus kuhlii''.

Description

Kuhl's pipistrelle's fur is dark brown to yellowish, while the wings are black or dark brown. Some individuals have a white stripe at the wing edges. It has a body length of with a long tail, and it weighs around . Its wingspan is . It is slightly

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

, with males larger than the females.

Distribution and habitat

Kuhl's pipistrelle lives in a variety of habitats, including commonly in urban areas. It occurs from sea-level to an elevation of . As it is common across a large and increasing range, it is classified as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been evaluated and categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as not being a focus of wildlife conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wil ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

Behaviour and ecology

Kuhl's pipistrelle is a generalist

insectivore file:Common brown robberfly with prey.jpg, A Asilidae, robber fly eating a hoverfly An insectivore is a carnivore, carnivorous animal or plant which eats insects. An alternative term is entomophage, which can also refer to the Entomophagy ...

, with a widely varying diet depending on the individual and location. In some cases, it may also feed on small amounts of fruit. It feeds by catching its prey in flight by scooping them up in its wings or tail membrane. It typically hunts near other Kuhl's pipistrelles. To attract females, males will emit mating calls distinct from the normal echolocation calls, often in large groups.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q842385 Pipistrellus Taxa named by Heinrich Kuhl Bats of Africa Bats of Asia Bats of Europe Mammals of North Africa pipistrelle, Kuhls Mammals of Azerbaijan Mammals of Afghanistan Mammals of Pakistan Mammals of Cape Verde Mammals described in 1817 Taxonomy articles created by Polbot