Nathusius' pipistrelle (''Pipistrellus nathusii'') is a small

bat Bats are flying mammals of the order Chiroptera (). 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 birds, flying with their very long spread-out ...

in the genus ''

Pipistrellus ''Pipistrellus'' is a genus of bats in the family Vespertilionidae and subfamily Vespertilioninae. The name of the genus is derived from the Italian word , meaning "bat" (from Latin "bird of evening, bat"). The size of the genus has been co ...

''. It is very similar to the common pipistrelle and has been overlooked in many areas until recently but it is widely distributed across

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

. It was described by two German naturalists, Alexander Keyserling and

Johann Heinrich Blasius Johann Heinrich Blasius (7 October 1809 – 26 May 1870) was a German zoologist. His sons, Rudolf Heinrich Paul Blasius (1842-1907) and August Wilhelm Heinrich Blasius (1845–1912) were ornithologists. Biography Blasius was born on 7 October ...

, and named by them after

Hermann von Nathusius Hermann Engelhard von Nathusius (9 December 1809 – 29 June 1879) was a German animal husbandry, animal breeder. Born in Magdeburg to industrialist Johann Gottlob Nathusius, Hermann von Nathusius studied the natural sciences. He took over from ...

, in gratitude for his support of their research.

Description

The length of the head and body is 46–55 mm and the wingspan is 220–250 mm. It has a forearm length of 32–40 mm and weighs about 6–15.5g. The fifth finger is longer than 43 mm. Its

fur A fur is a soft, thick growth of hair that covers the skin of almost all mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an ...

is medium-dark reddish-brown above, often with paler tips, and is pale brown below. The fur is longer and less uniformly colored compared to the common pipistrelle. It is also larger, with broader wings. The face, ears, wings, and tail are dark.

Distribution

Nathusius' pipistrelle occurs from

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

eastward as far as the

Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. It is highly migratory with individuals from northern and eastern areas moving south-west for the winter. Preferred habitats are

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

land and light

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

, often near water. It is generally commoner in Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. In the west it is mainly a rare winter visitor but new breeding colonies have been found in several areas in recent years. In

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

it was previously thought to be a vagrant with only a handful of records including several from

oil rig An oil rig is any kind of apparatus constructed for oil drilling. Kinds of oil rig include: * Drilling rig A drilling rig is an integrated system that Drilling, drills wells, such as oil or water wells, or holes for piling and other construc ...

s in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

. It is now known to breed at several sites in

and

. Threats to the species include the loss of hollow trees and toxic chemicals from the treatment of timber in buildings. However, it is a protected species in many countries and breeds successfully in bat boxes.

Diet and reproduction

It emerges early to hunt, flying in straight lines with rapid, deep wingbeats at around 3 to 15 metres above the ground. It feeds on small to medium-sized flying

insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...

s, particularly

chironomid Chironomidae , commonly known as non-biting midges or chironomids , are a family of Nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the families Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Although many chironomid s ...

midges. Breeding colonies are located in hollow trees, bat boxes, and occasionally in buildings. Mating takes place from July to early September when males gather a

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

of females in their mating territory. In spring the females gather at nursery roosts where they give birth to two young.

Echolocation

The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 36–62 kHz, have most energy at 41 kHz and have an average duration of 6.9 ms.Obrist, M.K., Boesch, R. and Flückiger, P.F. (2004) 'Variability in echolocation call design of 26 Swiss bat species: Consequences, limits and options for automated field identification with a synergic pattern recognition approach.' ''Mammalia''., 68 (4): 307–32.

References

* Frank Greenaway & A. M. Hudson (1990) ''A Field Guide to British Bats'', Bruce Coleman Books, Uxbridge * Jon Russ (2004
Nathusius' pipistrelle in Great Britain & Ireland
(retrieved 15/01/07) * Wilfried Schober & Eckard Grimmberger (1993) ''Hamlyn Guide: Bats of Britain and Europe'', Hamlyn, London. * R. E. Stebbings & Francesca Griffith (1986) ''Distribution and Status of Bats in Europe'', Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Huntingdon.

External links

ARKive
Photographs, Video.
Listen to bat sing
Audio of courtship song at roost and while flying. {{Taxonbar, from=Q520425 Pipistrellus Mammals described in 1839 Taxa named by Alexander von Keyserling Taxa named by Johann Heinrich Blasius Bats of Asia Bats of Europe Pipistrelle, Nathusius's Mammals of Russia Mammals of Central Asia Mammals of Turkey Mammals of Azerbaijan Fauna of Cyprus