Welwitsch's bat facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Welwitsch's bat |
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| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Vespertilionidae |
| Genus: | Myotis |
| Species: |
M. welwitschii
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| Binomial name | |
| Myotis welwitschii (Gray, 1866)
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Welwitsch's bat is a special kind of bat found in Africa. It's also known as Welwitsch's mouse-eared bat or Welwitsch's myotis. Its scientific name is Myotis welwitschii. This bat belongs to a group called vesper bats.
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About Welwitsch's Bat
Welwitsch's bat is quite a big bat for its family. It grows to about 12 cm (4.7 in) long. It usually weighs between 12 to 17 g (0.42 to 0.60 oz). That's about as much as a few coins!
Its body is a chestnut brown color. The fur on its belly is a lighter, off-white shade. The most unique part of this bat is its wings. They are reddish with dark brown or black spots. Its face is pinkish, and it has a snout that's not too long. It also has big, round, coppery-red ears.
Where Welwitsch's Bats Live
Welwitsch's bat lives in many parts of eastern and southern Africa. In the east, you can find them from the Free State in South Africa all the way north to Ethiopia. Further west, they are also found in Zambia, the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo, and central Angola. There has even been one sighting in Guinea.
These bats can live in different places. However, they seem to like open woodlands and savannah areas the most. Welwitsch's bats usually rest alone during the day. They might roost in trees, low bushes, buildings, or deep caves.
What Welwitsch's Bats Do
Welwitsch's bats have wide wings. This helps them fly slowly and carefully. They are known as "clutter-edge foragers." This means they look for food along the edges of trees or buildings.
They mainly eat insects that fly in the air. These include moths, beetles, and different kinds of bugs. Most of what we know about their diet comes from observations in Mpumalanga, South Africa.
Reproduction and Life Cycle
We don't know a lot about how Welwitsch's bats have babies or how they live in groups. There has only been one time when two bats were seen resting together. Other similar types of Myotis bats usually have babies at certain times of the year. They often mate from late spring to summer. These bats typically have one or two young at a time.
 | Shirley Ann Jackson |
 | Garett Morgan |
 | J. Ernest Wilkins Jr. |
 | Elijah McCoy |
