Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bat

activity

Activity patterns. The Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bat is often seen foraging together with smaller species of mormoopids butflies closer to the ground or within vegetation. Echolocation calls during search phase consist of long CF-FM pulses of 22 - 25 milliseconds and up to four harmonics. Most energy is in the second harmonic, but there seems to be variation in the CF component across the distribution. Individuals from the Yucatan Peninsula have higher frequency calls, with the CF component of 63 - 5 kHz; mean CF of individuals from Costa Rica 1 s 60 - 5 kHz.

Mormoopidae

biology_ecology

Habitat. Continuous or fragmented forests and dense riparian vegetation with high canopies and croplands. Although Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bats prefer roosting in warm caves, they have less thermal specificity than smaller mormoopids and tolerate roost temperatures below 20 ° C in their northernmost distribution.

Mormoopidae

biology_ecology

Movements, Home range and Social organization. Sizes of colonies of Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bats contain a few hundred individuals. They can range widely, with records of recaptures in areas located more than 2 km from the originalsite of capture.

Mormoopidae

breeding

Breeding. Seasonal polyestry has been suggested for the Mesoamerican Common Mustached Bat. It seems to depend on hot caves for maternity roosts. In Yucatan, Mexico, pregnant females are reported in late April and early May, with embryos of 20 - 22 mm. In Veracruz, Mexico, pregnant females were observed in most parts of the year but in higher frequency in April-June and August-September. In Costa Rica, lactating females with young are reported in February. Lactation is most frequently reported in June-September, but a bimodal pattern has also been suggested.

Mormoopidae