Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus) lives in eastern forests across North America. It feeds on insects and spiders. Its conservation status is Vulnerable.
Hear the Tricolored Bat
A real field recording of the Tricolored Bat, made in the wild.
Female tricolored bats mate in autumn but keep the males' sperm frozen in their uterus through the cold months, only fertilising eggs when spring arrives. Gestation then lasts about forty-four days, and twins are born in June or July, together weighing up to 58% of the mother's post-birth weight.
In Nova Scotia, researchers found nearly one hundred tricolored bat roosts, all tucked inside the beard lichen Usnea trichodea rather than tree leaves. The lichen's usnic acid has anti-insect and anti-bacterial properties, and no external parasites have been recorded on these bats there. By nesting in chemically defended lichen, the bats may gain a natural shield against parasites, illustrating a rare example of an animal using a plant's chemical armor for its own health.
White-nose syndrome hit the tricolored bat hard after arriving in the United States in 2006, wiping out 70% or more of local populations in several states. The fungus invades the skin during winter hibernation, forcing bats to wake repeatedly and burn through their limited fat stores. Such massive losses have pushed the species from "least-concern" in 2008 to "vulnerable" by 2018, underscoring how a single pathogen can tip a once-common animal toward the brink of extinction.
Although rarely seen, the tricolored bat is one of only two bat species whose rabies variants cause most human bat-related rabies deaths in the United States. Between 1958 and 2000, sixteen people died from its rabies strain, representing 46% of all domestic rabies fatalities. In 2017, only thirty-one bats were tested for rabies, and one (3.4%) was positive, highlighting that even low-frequency encounters can have outsized public-health impacts.
Weighing just 4.6-7.9 g, the tricolored bat is the tiniest bat in the eastern and mid-western United States. Its forearm measures only 31.4-34.1 mm and its wingspan stretches 21-26 cm.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
In the twilight skies, a diminutive silhouette flits and weaves, the Tricolored Bat dancing on the whispers of the wind as it pursues its insect prey with reckless abandon. With a fragile, almost translucent beauty, this tiny creature navigates the world with an uncanny agility, its delicate wings beating at a hypnotic pace as it careens through the shadows. As one of the smallest mammals in North America, the Tricolored Bat's very existence is a testament to the remarkable resilience of life, its vulnerability to extinction a poignant reminder of the fragility of our natural world.
Advertisement
Hear the Tricolored Bat, and 4,400+ more
Real recorded sounds, 11 nature games and a free Daily 5, 1v1 quiz duels, conservation wins and a safe Kids mode. Free on Feravox.
