Alternative Names (Synonyms)

• Oriellard gris (French)
• Graues Langohr (German)
• Murcielago orejudo gris (Spanish)
• Vespertilio auritus austriacus Fischer, 1829; Austria

Alternative species names (the second part of the binomial species names): [Genus] ariel; [Genus] christiei; [Genus] hispanicus; [Genus] kischbaumii; [Genus] kolombatovici; [Genus] kozlovi; [Genus] macrobullaris; [Genus] meridionalis; [Genus] mordax; [Genus] wardi (B141).

Names for new-borns / juveniles

General Appearance

Similar Species

• Nose with simple shape (no horseshoe)
• Base of ears joined at top of head
• Ear more than 25mm long when extended: nearly as long as body.

Distinguished from Plecotus auritus - Brown long-eared bat by: grey colour, tragus more than 5.5mm wide at widest point, short thumbs (usually less than 6.2mm), face usually black, upper canine large and angular in section below the cingulum, second upper premolar less than half height of first upper premolar.

(B142, B147, B167)

References

Species Author

Major References

Husbandry references:
B142

• Wildlife and Countryside Directorate, Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR)
• The Mammal Society
• Mammals Trust
• Bat Conservation Trust
• London Bat Group

• --

TAXA Group (where information has been collated for an entire group on a modular basis)

Parent Group

• Insectivorous Bats (Microchiroptera)

Specific Needs Group referenced in Management Techniques

• Insectivorous Bats (Microchiroptera)

Husbandry Information

Notes

• Relatively aggressive when handled (B142).
• Have not been maintained in captivity (B142).

• Accommodation of Casualty Insectivorous Bats
• Hand-rearing Insectivorous Bats
• Catching and Handling of Insectivorous Bats
• Feeding of Casualty Insectivorous Bats
• Release of Casualty Insectivorous Bats

Measurement & Weight

• Head-body length: 40-52mm (B142).
• Forearm length: 38-43mm (B142).
• Wingspan: 255-300mm (B142).

Head

Nose:

Ears: large (30-38mm long) and oval when erect, folded back when at rest, brownish. Ears joined as bases by prominent interauricular membrane. Tragus broad (over 5.6mm, usually over 6.0mm), anterior edge basically straight, posterior edge proximal half strongly convex, distal part concave. Tragus remains erect when ears folded under wings (B142, B147, B167)

• I 2/3, C1/1, P2/3, M3/3 (B142).
• Upper canines: large, angular in section below the cingulum, second upper premolar less than half height of first upper premolar (B142).

• Large (B142).

Legs and Tracks

• Forearm length: 38-43mm (B142).
• Wingspan: 255-300mm (B142).
• Thumbs: short (usually less than 6.2mm), relatively thick (B142, B167).

Tail

Coat / Pelage

• Dorsal: medium/dark grey or blackish, with base of hairs black, tips pale grey.
• Ventral: light grey, base of hairs black, tips whitish
• Face: black or dark brown.
• Ears: dark brown
• Membranes: dark brown

(B142, B167)

• Fur sooty-grey with colour of individual hairs at base and tip similar (B167).

Neonate (New-born) Characteristics

Detailed Anatomy Notes
(Summary information provided for pertinent species-specific data cross-referenced in Wildpro)

Natural Diet

• Lepidoptera (moths) are very important
• Coleoptera (beetles, small to medium-sized)
• Also Diptera, Hymenoptera, Neuroptera, Heteroptera, Homoptera, Trichoptera.

(B142, B143, B147).

Detailed Physiology Notes
(Summary information provided for pertinent species-specific data cross-referenced in Wildpro)

Feeding Behaviour

• Opportunistic feeders.
• Catch prey in free flight, may also glean from foliage.
• Eat on wing, also use feeding perches while consuming prey: piles of insect remains below these perches.

(B142).

Parental Behaviour

Social Behaviour / Territoriality

• Sexes found seperately June to Sepember (Dorset data).
• Females form nursery colonies. Usually 10-20 bats (B147)
• High aggression levels suggested by large number of healed wounds.
• May be male territoriality, as only one male found per section of roost

(B142, B147)

Sexual Behaviour

• Promiscuous (B142).

Predation in Wild

• Owls, particularly Tyto alba - Barn owl (B142).

Activity Patterns

• Hibernation: begins October, ends March (females) or April (males).
• Flight: straight flight path, usually 2 to 5m above ground.
• Hang free in exposed positions.
• Hibernation temperature range: Czechoslovakia 2-9°C; Britain 12°C and relatively active over winter (probably due to temperature fluctuations).
• When hibernating: wings usually folded loosely around body, with ears under wings and legs bent.

(B142)

General Habitat Type

• England, Channel Islands: open lightly wooded country.
• Continental Europe: lowland cultivated areas.

(B142).

• Open cultivated country (B147).

Nests / Burrows / Shelters

• Roosts: house roofs.
• Hibernation roosts: deep in warm caves and cellars.
• Nursery colonies: attics (open spaces) and in church lofts (warmest areas of loft).

(B142)

• Summer: in buildings; winter: in buildings or cellars (B147).

Distribution and Movement (Migration etc.)

• Iberia and North Africa to southern England, eastwards through mainland Europe (except Denmark and most of Scandinavia) to Mongolia, western China, Himalayas. Also Cape Verde Islands. (B143).
• "Southern England and Portugal to Mongolia and Sichuan (south-western China), Arabian Peninsula, northern Africa, Ethiopia, Senegal, Cape Verde Islands" (B147).
• Spain and southern England to western China, north-east India, Cape Verde Islands, north Africa, Senegal (B51).
• Europe: from Portugal and southern Britain (Dorset, Hampshire, Sussex, Guernsey, Jersey, Sark) southwards to Italy and Greece, in Central and southern Europe as far north as northern Germany and 53°N in Poland and eastwards to south-west Belarus, Ukraine, Caucasus. Found on Madiera (B142, B143).

Movements:

• Sedentary.
• Longest recorded flight 62km. Some individuals found in Britain may be immigrants from continental Europe.
• (B142, B143).

--.

Intraspecific variation

• Plecotus austriacus austriacus
• Plecotus austriacus kolombatovici Šulic, 1980 (Adriatic coast and islands of former Yugoslavia) smaller than nominate subspecies.

(B143)

Conservation Status

• Declined in central Germany (B147)
• Relatively numerous in Mediterranean, Transcaucasia and areas south of northern border of the range. (B143).

• In Britain: native, very rare with only a few colonies known. Pre-breeding population estimate of about 1,000 with 1,000 in England, 0 in Scotland, 0 in Wales. Population estimate of this widely-distributed species was based on a limited amount of data and considered likely to be inaccurate by up to 50% in either direction (B221).

• Bern Convention, Appendix II
• Bonn Convention, Appendix II.
• EU Habitats and Species Directive, Annex IV

(B143)

• All bats are is listed on Schedule 5 (Protected animals) of the LUK2 - Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 of the United Kingdom. (W5.Oct01)
• All bats are listed on Schedule 6 (Animals which may not be killed or taken by certain methods) of the LUK2 - Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 of the United Kingdom. (W5.Oct01)

• Use of pesticides in buildings used as roosts (B142, B143, B147).