Common pipistrelle

Common pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus pipistrellus )

The common pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus pipistrellus ) belongs to the family of Myotis bats ( Vespertilionidae ) and is the most common European species of bat. It is among the smallest representatives of mammals and is adjacent to the mosquito bat one of the smallest in the genus.

Features

It reaches a height of 4.5 inches and a wingspan of up to 25 centimeters with a weight from 3.5 to 7 grams. So you only weighs little more than a lump of sugar and is as big as a matchbox with folded wings. Their coat color is reddish brown to dark brown, the underside yellow-brown to gray-brown.

Nutrition

It feeds on small insects such as midges, caddis flies and moths. During the night the dwarf bat flies sometimes over five kilometers to reach their hunting grounds. They are situated along rivers and lakes or on the edge.

Resting Places

The common pipistrelle is a column inhabitants. She sleeps for example, barns, store and church towers in sometimes large groups. In a room the size of a phone book for example, have 25 or more Pipistrelle females with their pups space, more than fifty animals. The males more likely to sleep separately. Narrow gaps and cracks on the outside are preferred. Typical roosts are located behind wood paneling, Eternit Cladding and sheet metal flashings. Due to the renovation of old buildings such Sleeps are often destroyed, so that this species is dependent on the help of the people. In their winter quarters may include thousands of animals the size of a group.

Fertilization and birth

The females gather from April in so-called nursery colonies (again, it column - quarters ). There they give birth. A newborn pipistrelle is blind and naked, and about the size of a bee. Often comes down to twin births. Before she falls into hibernation after September, the common pipistrelle mates. Then the female stores the sperm seven to eight months before the actual fertilization takes place and the gestation period begins. From about May to mid- June, the boys come to the world.

Threat

The common pipistrelle is a nature reserve. It is threatened by renovations ( foaming, seal ), by vanishing insect habitats and by ignorance. Thus, for false claims, to devour and nibbled insulation material, they multiplied boundless or she were flying in human hair and formed an inextricable tangle, which could only be removed with scissors, hardly eradicate. Also exaggerated orderliness can lead to loss quarters, for example, if disturbing the droppings. Even if a removal or sealing of the cantonment with the Nature Conservation Act is inconsistent, this helps the dwarf bats in such a case, nothing.

In the Red List of the Federal Republic of Germany it is not performed ( not at risk ), on the Red List of IUCN 2006, she is regarded as least concern (least concern ). In many parts of Europe it is considered common and some populations even grow. Nevertheless, there is a threat of loss quarters.

System

The pipistrelle belongs to the genus of Pipistrelle bats ( Pipistrellus ), which comprises about 35 species. In Europe, four other species that Nathusius' pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus nathusii ), the white border bat ( Pipistrellus kuhlii ), the soprano pipistrelle ( Pipistrellus pygmaeus ) and the Madeira - bat ( Pipistrellus maderensis ) live.