New Zealand Long-tailed Bat
Encyclopedia
The New Zealand Long-tailed Bat, Chalinolobus tuberculata (8-12g), also known as the Long-tailed Wattled Bat or Pekapeka-tou-roa (Māori
), is one of 15 species of bat
s in the genus Chalinolobus
variously known as "pied bats", "wattled bats" or "long-tailed bats". It is endemic to New Zealand
, but is closely related to five other species of wattled or lobe-lipped bats in Australia
and elsewhere.
The bat's echolocation
calls include a relatively low frequency component which can be heard by some people. It can fly at 60 kilometres per hour and has a very large home range (100 km²). An aerial insectivore
, feeding on small moth
s, midge
s, mosquito
es and beetle
s primary along forest edges.
Females give birth to a single pup during the summer and providing sole care for their young with other females in maternity roosts of up to 120 individuals. These sub colonies move to new trees almost every day, breaking apart into smaller groups or reforming into larger ones. In some areas lime stone caves are also used but mainly as night roost between feeding bouts.
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
), is one of 15 species of 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,...
s in the genus Chalinolobus
Chalinolobus
Bats of the genus Chalinolobus are commonly known as pied, wattled, or long-tailed bats. They have fleshy lobes at the bottom edge of their ears and on their lower lips...
variously known as "pied bats", "wattled bats" or "long-tailed bats". It is endemic to New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
, but is closely related to five other species of wattled or lobe-lipped bats in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and elsewhere.
The bat's echolocation
Animal echolocation
Echolocation, also called biosonar, is the biological sonar used by several kinds of animals.Echolocating animals emit calls out to the environment and listen to the echoes of those calls that return from various objects near them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects...
calls include a relatively low frequency component which can be heard by some people. It can fly at 60 kilometres per hour and has a very large home range (100 km²). An aerial insectivore
Insectivore
An insectivore is a type of carnivore with a diet that consists chiefly of insects and similar small creatures. An alternate term is entomophage, which also refers to the human practice of eating insects....
, feeding on small moth
Moth
A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...
s, midge
Midge (insect)
Midges comprise many kinds of very small two-winged flies found world-wide. The term does not encapsulate a well-defined taxonomic group, but includes animals in several families of Nematoceran Diptera. While some midges are vectors for disease, many others play useful roles as prey items for...
s, mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
es and beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
s primary along forest edges.
Females give birth to a single pup during the summer and providing sole care for their young with other females in maternity roosts of up to 120 individuals. These sub colonies move to new trees almost every day, breaking apart into smaller groups or reforming into larger ones. In some areas lime stone caves are also used but mainly as night roost between feeding bouts.