The Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus is a small pipistrelle bat

Bat

Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...

 whose very large range extends across most of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, North Africa

North Africa

North Africa or Northern Africa is the northernmost region of the African continent, linked by the Sahara to Sub-Saharan Africa. Geopolitically, the United Nations definition of Northern Africa includes eight countries or territories; Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, South Sudan, Sudan, Tunisia, and...

, southwestern Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, and possibly into Korea

Korea

Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...

. It is one of the most common bat species in the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

.

It is 3.5-4.5 cm long with a wingspan of 19-25 cm. Its brown fur is variable in tone. It is common in woodland and farmland but is also found in towns, where it roosts in lofts and buildings.

In 1999 the Common Pipistrelle was split into two species on the basis of different-frequency echo-location calls. The Common Pipistrelle uses a call of 45 kHz, while the Soprano Pipistrelle

Soprano Pipistrelle

The Soprano Pipistrelle is a small bat that was only formally separated from the Common Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pipistrellus in 1999....

echo-locates at 55 kHz. Since the two species were distinguished, a number of other differences, in appearance, habitat and food, have also been discovered.

Echolocation

The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 45-76 kHz, have most energy at 47 kHz and have an average duration of 5.6 ms.

External links

• ARKive Pipistrellus pipistrellus and Pipistrellus pygmaeus Photographs and videos.