Weight:10-15 grams
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[Call File1] [Call File2]
Distribution:
Southwestern United States across the Mexican Plateau to southern Mexico.
Ecology and Behavior:
Little is known regarding habitat, but like other lasiurine bats, it roosts in leafy vegetation of the Mexican Plateau, coastal western Mexico, including parts of Baja California, and the deserts of the southwestern United States. In New Mexico, it is known to roost in hackberry and sycamore trees. In Arizona, some have been found to hibernate among the dead fronds of palm trees, as several were located in these trees in Tucson during January and February. This bat may be extending it range in the United States as evidenced by it appearance at several sites in Arizona in recent years. Recent studies have shown this species is genetically different from the southern yellow bat (Lasiurus ega).
Food Habits:
Western Yellow Bat consumes small to medium-sized, night flying insects.
Reproduction and Longevity:
Usually two babies are born in June, but the presence of up to four embryos suggests that size of litter may vary from two to four.
Status of Populations:
It is common in south-central Arizona but uncommon elsewhere in its range in the United States.
Text, in its original form, provided by T. L. Best, M. J. Harvey, and J. S. Altenbach. Printed spectrographs provided by M. J. O'Farrell. Distribution maps, call descriptions, and AnaMusic sound clips produced by W. L. Gannon. Accounts assembled by T. C. Sanchez-Brown.