Little Free-tailed Bat

conservation

Conservation: IUCN 2003 and IUCN / SSC Action Plan (2001) – Lower Risk (lc) as C. pumila; Vulnerable as C. pusilla.

Order Chiroptera - Family Molossidae

discussion

Discussion: plicatus species group. Includes pusillus; see Hayman and Hill (1971). Does not include leucogaster; see Peterson et al. (1995). Koopman (1994) included leucogaster in pumilus and recognized 12 subspecies in the resulting complex. However, subspecies limits are poorly defined and many populations have not be allocated, rendering any subspecific classification useless. This complex probably includes more than one species; Peterson et al. (1995) recognized hindei, limbata, and naivashae as distinct, but did not diagnose or delimit them. Note that the correct spelling for the specific epithet in combination with Chaerephon is pumilus (not pumila) because the genus name is masculine. Northern records reviewed in part by Harrison and Bates (1991). See Bouchard (1998), but note that she included leucogaster in this species. Specimens reported as pumilus by Happold (1967) actually represent major.

Order Chiroptera - Family Molossidae

distribution

Distribution: Senegal to Yemen, south to South Africa; Bioko (Equatorial Guinea); São Tomé; Pemba and Zanzibar; Comoro Isls; Aldabra and Amirante Isls (Seychelles); Madagascar.

Order Chiroptera - Family Molossidae

activity

Activity patterns. Little Free-tailed Bats are nocturnal. They emerge soon after dusk and forage throughout the night, with two activity peaks at dusk and dawn. Their natural roosts include crevices in rocks, trees and the crowns of palm trees, but they are very commonly recorded in the roofs of buildings in urban and rural areas. Echolocation calls are FM with narrow bandwidth, low frequency (typically peak frequency of 25 kHz), and long duration (c. 10 milliseconds). Echolocation call structure and frequency vary geographically but some of the variation may be due to the use of different bat-detector systems.

Molossidae