Nycticeius

Nycticeius humeralis

The American noctule ( Nycticeius ) are a genus of bats of the family of Myotis bats ( Vespertilionidae ) which are native to North America and Cuba. The name of the genus comes from the Greek and means " belonging to the night ."

Description

American noctule have a head -body length of 45 to 65 mm, a tail length of 36-41 mm and a forearm length of 34 to 38mm. Nycticeius humeralis weighs 6-12 g The coat color is brown, the fur on the belly is usually lighter. The ears and tragus are rounder than in members of the genus mouse ears (Myotis ). American noctule differ from the genera Scoteanax and Scotorepens by a significantly longer instead of wider palate.

Way of life

American noctule are like most bats nocturnal. They feed on insects, which are captured in flight, with probably small, relatively soft prey are preferred. To navigation and finding prey animals use echolocation calls American noctule which are inaudible to humans. During the day you will find American noctule in tree columns, under loose bark, in buildings and rarely in caves. Mating probably occurs in late summer and autumn, where the females store the sperm in the uterus until ovulation in the spring.

Types and distribution

There are three known types:

• Nycticeius aenobarbus ( Temminck, 1840): Often used as a synonym for " Myotis albescens ", but differs significantly both as an art as well as to genus level by this. The species is only known by a museum specimen, which is why nothing about the lifestyle, distribution and hazard is known.
• Nycticeius cubanus ( Gundlach, 1861): Has been considered until 1974 as a subspecies of Nycticeius humeralis. The species is distributed only in the west of Cuba and by the IUCN as endangered potentiel ( " near threatened " ) classified.
• Nycticeius humeralis ( Rafinesque, 1818): Is widespread in the eastern United States and Mexico, and is classified by the IUCN as safely.

Until 1987, it was assumed that the native to Africa Schlieffen 's bat ( Nycticeinops schlieffeni ) and occurring in Australia Great Wide nosed bats ( Scoteanax rueppellii ) and little broad nose bats ( genus Scotorepens ) is also counted among the genus Nycticeius. Said to 1971 Nycticeius emarginatus type is a synonym for Scotomanes ornatus.