Midas free-tailed bat
Tadarida midas is a bat species from the family of bulldog bats ( Molossidae ) which is native to Africa. Synonyms are mops and mops midas unicolor.
Description
Tadarida midas is a large bat with a weight of 40 to 61.5 g, a forearm length of 57-66 mm and a total length of an average of 143 mm. The ears are connected to each other very wide and over the forehead by a hairy membrane. The coat is silky, reddish or dark brown, and the belly lighter than the back. The hair on the abdomen have a white tip. The wings are very long and narrow, which makes this kind of a quick but little agile fliers. On the bottom runs on the flight skin from the forearm to the leg, a band of white hair. Tadarida midas is larger than other sympatric Bulldog bats as congica T., T. trevori, T. fulminans and T. lobata. Generally, this type also has larger feet, and longer thumb and a longer tail. Flight skin and ears are not translucent as in T. lobata. The upper lip has seven wrinkles with short, stiff bristles. The tragus is short while the relatively large antitragus fails.
Way of life
Tadarida midas is like most bats nocturnal and feeds on insects, which they seem to prefer beetles. The species is mainly in woodlands and savannas, usually near rivers or swamps. During the day the animals hang in groups of several hundred individuals in attics, abandoned buildings, caves, hollow trees and under bridges. The groups consist four-fifths of females and one-fifth of males. The hanging places divides Tadarida midas occasionally with other bats such as Tadarida pumila and Tadarida condylura. The females give birth to a single pup each with a weight of 9.6 to 10 g per litter.
Distribution and habitat
Tadarida midas is scattered before in Africa. Evidence exist for Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Mozambique, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. The IUCN estimates that kind thanks to their wide distribution as a unharmed, but the populations are becoming increasingly smaller. Reason for this is that the animals are locally still being persecuted and killed.