Common noctule

Noctule ( Nyctalus noctula )

The noctule ( Nyctalus noctula ) is a senior living in forests bat species from the family of Myotis bats ( Vespertilionidae ).

Appearance

The short coat is close fitting and on the entire body one color rusty brown shiny. With a maximum of 8.2 cm body length and a wingspan of 40 cm, it is the size between his two relatives on the European continent. Very striking are the significant Drüsenwülste in the mouth, which can be seen with the mouth open.

Occurrence

As typical tree bat he lives in small groups, sometimes in larger groups, old ( Woodpecker ) caves in trees; but he also makes use of buildings, and sometimes nest boxes as a base.

It is found almost everywhere in Europe with the exception of northern Scandinavia, Scotland and Ireland. He lives also in large parts of Asia, from Asia Minor to Japan and Malaysia as well as in northern Africa. Noctule cause long walks in between their summer and winter quarters. The longest measured distance was 1546 km. It was determined by guides. As winter quarters, where sometimes up to a thousand animals may be encountered, they prefer tree hollows for their winter sleep. The largest currently known wintering grounds of the Great Noctule in Central Europe is the Levensau bridge.

Subspecies

There are four subspecies of the Great Noctule:

• N. n noctula: Algeria, from the Iberian Peninsula to Eastern Europe, Turkmenistan and northern Iran
• N. n labiata: Pakistan, North India and Vietnam
• N. n lebanoticus: Southwest Asia
• N. n mecklenburzevi: former Soviet Central Asia

The subspecies N. n plancyi was raised some time ago in the species status ( Nyctalus plancyi ).

Food

The animals go just before dawn dawn - in late fall even during the day - to hunt. The diet consists primarily of moths, crickets and beetles. The noctule is able to eat large beetles such as cockchafer. It hunts usually as a long-haul aircraft over the treetops and captures its prey at speeds up to 60 km / h

Reproduction

The animals mate between August and October. As of June, at the earliest the end of May (Russia) bring the females one to two, rarely three cubs (single case in England) to the world. In Germany, the kind planted mainly continued in the east, but nurseries are also known from West Germany. The known maximum age of a Great Noctule is 12 years.