Natterer's bat (Myotis nattereri)

Natterer's bat
Natterer's bat

Natterer's bat fact file

Natterer's bat description

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumChordata
ClassMammalia
OrderChiroptera
FamilyVespertilionidae
GenusMyotis (1)

The medium sized Natterer's bat (Myotis nattereri) has a grey-brown back and whitish fur to the underside, a pinkish face and quite large ears that are pink at the base and browner at the tips (7), with a long narrow tragus (2). A characteristic feature of this species is the row of stiff hairs along the edge of the tail membrane (7).

French
Murin De Natterer.
Spanish
Murciélago Ratonero Gris.
Size
Wingspan: 24.5 - 30 cm (2)
Body length: 4 - 5 cm (2)
Weight
7 - 12 g (2)
Top

Natterer's bat biology

Prey items include moths, flies and spiders. Natterer's bat has great manoeuvrability at low speeds and tends to fly at heights below five metres (2). It seems to use a combination of hunting styles, including gleaning by landing and taking prey in flight from or close to surfaces (9). Mating tends to occur in late summer and autumn, when large swarms form at underground sites. Mixed-sex maternity colonies form between May and September (8); up to 25 percent of the bats in a nursery roost may be male (8). Towards the end of June a single young is produced which is fed on milk for around six weeks after birth, and left in a 'creche' as the mother goes out to hunt. Young bats may fly three weeks after birth and will be weaned and independent after six (2).

Top

Natterer's bat range

Widespread in much of Europe, Natterer's bat is found throughout most of the British Isles north to the Great Glen Fault in Scotland, but is scarce throughout most of this range (2).

You can view distribution information for this species at the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

Top

Natterer's bat habitat

Found in woodland and pasture, Natterer's bat roosts in old stone buildings in the summer (7). They hibernate in winter and mainly use underground sites such as caves and mines for this purpose (2). They feed in open woodland, along hedgerows and waterside vegetation and in parkland (2).

Top

Natterer's bat status

Natterer's bat is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (10). European populations are listed under Appendix II of The Bonn Convention (1), Appendix II of the Bern Convention (3), and Annex IV of the EC Habitats Directive (4). In the UK it is protected under Schedules 5 and 6 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (5), and Schedule 2 of the Conservation Regulations 1994 (6).

IUCN Red List species status – Least Concern

Top

Natterer's bat threats

The reasons for the decline of Natterer's bats include the loss and degradation of suitable habitat resulting from a number of factors including inappropriate management and pesticide use, which may decrease prey availability. Many bats are particularly susceptible to disturbance; destruction and/ or disturbance of summer and winter roosts is likely to have contributed to the decline (8).

Top

Natterer's bat conservation

Natterer's bat has not been given priority status under the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. There has therefore been little co-ordinated monitoring and conservation work targeted at this species, but the National Bat Monitoring Programme does count Natterer's colonies (4). Suggested measures that should be taken include population monitoring and mapping, with careful monitoring of barn conversions (2), research into the detailed habitat requirements of this species in order to inform management, promotion of woodland restoration and creation providing connectivity between sites, and protection of important swarming and hibernation sites (8).Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981 it is an offence to intentionally kill, injure or take a bat, or to damage, destroy or obstruct access to roosts (5).

There may be further information about this species available via the National Biodiversity Network Gateway.

View information on this species at the UNEP World Conservation Monitoring Centre.

Top

Find out more

To find out more about the conservation of this and other British bats see: 

Top

Authentication

Information authenticated by the Bat Conservation Trust:
http://www.bats.org.uk

Top

Glossary

Colonies
Groups of organisms living together, individuals in the group are not physiologically connected and may not be related, such as a colony of birds. Another meaning refers to organisms, such as bryozoans, which are composed of numerous genetically identical modules (also referred to as zooids or 'individuals'), which are produced by budding and remain physiologically connected.
Hibernation
A winter survival strategy characteristic of some mammals in which an animal's metabolic rate slows down and a state of deep sleep is attained. Whilst hibernating, animals survive on stored reserves of fat that they have accumulated in summer. In insects, the correct term for hibernation is 'diapause', a temporary pause in development and growth. Any stage of the lifecycle (eggs, larvae, pupae or adults) may enter diapause, which is typically associated with winter.
Tragus
A soft cartilaginous projection extending in front of the external opening of the ear. In bats it is thought to aid in the location of prey by generating many echoes, but the precise way in which this works is unknown.
Top

References

  1. UNEP-WCMC (January, 2002)
    http://quin.unep-wcmc.org/
  2. The Bat Conservation Trust: Species Information Sheet - Natterer’s Bat (January, 2002)
    http://www.bats.org.uk/publications_detail.php/215/species_information_sheet_natterers_bat
  3. Council of Europe: Bern Convention (January, 2002)
    http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/EN/Treaties/Html/104.htm
  4. Bat Conservation Trust. (2002) Pers. comm.
  5. Naturenet (January, 2002)
    http://www.naturenet.net/law/index.html
  6. Conservation Regulations 1994 (January, 2002)
    http://www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1994/Uksi_19942716_en_1.htm
  7. Wardhaugh, A.A. (1995) Bats of the British Isles. Shire Natural History, Aylesbury.
  8. Altringham, J.D. (1996) Bats: Biology and Behaviour. Oxford University Press, Oxford.
  9. Altringham, J.D. (2002) Pers. comm.
  10. IUCN Red List (February, 2011)
    http://www.iucnredlist.org/

More »Related species

Bechstein's bat (Myotis bechsteinii)Pond bat (Myotis dasycneme)Gray myotis (Myotis grisescens)Stalker’s myotis (Myotis stalkeri)Little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus)Schwartz's myotis (Myotis martiniquensis)Flat-headed myotis (Myotis planiceps)Brandt's bat (Myotis brandtii)

Please donate to ARKive today

Help us share the wonders of the natural world. Donate today!

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest wild news direct to your inbox.

Get involved

ARKive relies on its media donors to donate photos and videos. Can you help? There are plenty of other ways you can get involved too!

X
Close

Image credit

Natterer's bat  
Natterer's bat

© I. R. Beames / www.ardea.com

Ardea wildlife pets environment
35 Brodrick Road
Wandsworth Common
London
SW17 7DX
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 208 672 2067
Fax: +44 (0) 208 672 8787
ardea@ardea.co.uk
http://www.ardea.com

X
Close

Link to this photo

ARKive species - Natterer's bat (Myotis nattereri) Embed this ARKive thumbnail link by copying and pasting the code below.

Terms of Use - The displayed thumbnail may be used as a link from your website to ARKive's online content for private, scientific, conservation or educational purposes only. It may NOT be used within Apps.

Read more about

X
Close

MyARKive

MyARKive offers the scrapbook feature to signed-up members, allowing you to organize your favourite ARKive images and videos and share them with friends.

X
Close

Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials

Copyright in this website and materials contained on this website (Material) belongs to Wildscreen or its licensors.

Visitors to this website (End Users) are entitled to:

  • view the contents of, and Material on, the website;
  • download and retain copies of the Material on their personal systems in digital form in low resolution for their own personal use;
  • teachers, lecturers and students may incorporate the Material in their educational material (including, but not limited to, their lesson plans, presentations, worksheets and projects) in hard copy and digital format for use within a registered educational establishment, provided that the integrity of the Material is maintained and that copyright ownership and authorship is appropriately acknowledged by the End User.

End Users shall not copy or otherwise extract, alter or manipulate Material other than as permitted in these Terms and Conditions of Use of Materials.

Additional use of flagged material

Green flagged material 

Certain Material on this website (Licence 4 Material) displays a green flag next to the Material and is available for not-for-profit conservation or educational use. This material may be used by End Users, who are individuals or organisations that are in our opinion not-for-profit, for their not-for-profit conservation or not-for-profit educational purposes. Low resolution, watermarked images may be copied from this website by such End Users for such purposes. If you require high resolution or non-watermarked versions of the Material, please contact Wildscreen with details of your proposed use.

Creative commons material

Certain Material on this website has been licensed to Wildscreen under a Creative Commons Licence. These images are clearly marked with the Creative Commons buttons and may be used by End Users only in the way allowed by the specific Creative Commons Licence under which they have been submitted. Please see http://creativecommons.org for details.

Any other use

Please contact the copyright owners directly (copyright and contact details are shown for each media item) to negotiate terms and conditions for any use of Material other than those expressly permitted above. Please note that many of the contributors to ARKive are commercial operators and may request a fee for such use.

Save as permitted above, no person or organisation is permitted to incorporate any copyright material from this website into any other work or publication in any format (this includes but is not limited to: websites, Apps, CDs, DVDs, intranets, extranets, signage, digital communications or on printed materials for external or other distribution). Use of the Material for promotional, administrative or for-profit purposes is not permitted.