Yellow-winged bat facts for kids

The yellow-winged bat (Lavia frons) is a special type of bat found in Africa. It's one of five kinds of "false vampire bats," but don't worry, it only eats insects! This bat is the only species in its group, called Lavia.

Quick facts for kids Yellow-winged bat
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Chiroptera
Family:	Megadermatidae
Genus:	Lavia Gray, 1838
Species:	L. frons
Binomial name
Lavia frons (É. Geoffroy, 1810)
Yellow-winged bat range
Script error: The function "autoWithCaption" does not exist.

Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters".

What Does the Yellow-Winged Bat Look Like?

The yellow-winged bat is about 58–80 mm (2.3–3.1 in) long. That's about the length of a small candy bar! It weighs around 28–36 g (0.99–1.27 oz), which is like a few pieces of chocolate. Female bats are usually a bit bigger than males. Their wings can spread out to about 36 cm wide.

This bat has long, soft fur that is usually pearl gray or a dark gray color. Male bats might have greenish-yellow fur on their back legs and belly. As their name suggests, their wings are a reddish-yellow color. Their other body parts, like their nose and ears, are also this bright color. Their wings are mostly hairless, but they do have some fur on their upper arms.

Their ears are quite long and have a spiky part called a tragus. They also have a long nose-leaf with a blunt, pointed tip. Even though this bat has a special membrane between its legs, it doesn't have an outside tail. Males have special glands on their lower back that release a yellow liquid. Females have small bumps near their bottom that young bats can hold onto.

Where Do Yellow-Winged Bats Live and What Do They Eat?

Yellow-winged bats live across a large area in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert, down to northern Zambia. They mostly live in woodlands and savannas. You can find them in places less than 2,000 m high. They really like acacia trees and thorny bushes that are close to water. They fly around these areas.

These bats prefer to live where the plants are spread out. This helps them see more of what's around them. Yellow-winged bats usually rest, or "roost," in small trees and bushes. They can also roost in tree holes or even buildings. They often use two different roosting spots: a main one and a backup one. Bats use their main roost in the morning and again before evening. They fly between these roosts, especially on hot days, to find shade. These flights are usually short, but sometimes they fly longer distances in the middle of the day.

Unlike some other "false vampire bats," the yellow-winged bat only eats insects. They eat both soft and hard-bodied insects. Some of their favorite foods include termites, scarab beetles, grasshoppers, moths, and flies. They eat insects that are very small or quite large.

The yellow-winged bat is a "sit-and-wait" hunter. This means they perch (sit) and listen for prey. If an insect flies by, the bat quickly flies out to catch it. These bats are very alert, which helps them avoid being caught by predators. Animals that might hunt yellow-winged bats include mamba snakes, bat hawks, night tree vipers, and common kestrels (a type of bird).

How Do Yellow-Winged Bats Live and Grow?

Yellow-winged bats are a "monogamous" species. This means one male and one female form a pair during the breeding season. They also set up their own areas for finding food. When they rest together, they stay very close, usually less than 1 meter apart.

During the day, one bat in the pair stays awake and watches for danger. This bat can turn its head very far, about 225 degrees, and move its ears to listen. In the morning and evening, the male bat visits the backup roost. He protects it from other bats that might try to enter. In the morning, the male and female bats spend time together before they go their separate ways for the day. They meet again at their main roost before evening to interact.

The most social time for male and female bats is from May to early June. This is when there are lots of insects, which helps the young bats learn how to hunt. The exact time when yellow-winged bats give birth can change depending on where they live. In Zambia, babies are born at the end of the dry season in October. In Kenya, they are born at the start of the "long rains" in April.

Female bats are pregnant for about 3 months, and they usually have only one baby. For the first few weeks, the young bat holds onto its mother. Soon, the young bat stays at the roost for about a week and learns to fly on its own. Young bats stop drinking their mother's milk when they are about 55 days old.

These bats make different sounds. They use "echolocation" calls to find things close to them in the dark. They also make social calls that humans can sometimes hear. These social calls are used when bats are being aggressive, mating, or when mothers and their babies are talking to each other.

How Are Yellow-Winged Bats Doing?

Scientists don't know much about how humans affect the yellow-winged bat population. We also don't have much information on how their numbers change over time. It seems like they are not in great danger, but they might not be very common either.