The variegated butterfly bat (''Glauconycteris variegata'') is a species of

vesper bat Vespertilionidae is a family of microbats, of the order Chiroptera, flying, insect-eating mammals variously described as the common, vesper, or simple nosed bats. The vespertilionid family is the most diverse and widely distributed of bat famili ...

. It is sometimes also called the leaf-winged bat, or simply the butterfly bat. It is not currently endangered, but may be threatened by

habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss or habitat reduction) occurs when a natural habitat is no longer able to support its native species. The organisms once living there have either moved elsewhere, or are dead, leading to a decrease ...

in some parts of its range.

Description

Variegated butterfly bats are relatively small bats, averaging in total length, with a tail, and weighing around . Females are slightly larger than males, with an average wingspan of , compared with a typical male wingspan of . The body is covered in long, silky fur of highly variable colour, although usually yellowish or light grey, and lacking the prominent patterns found on some closely related species. The fur on the undersides is white or very pale grey, and that on the face and ears is brown. The wing membranes also have a sparse covering of hair, and have a distinctive reticulated pattern of dark veins, from which the bat takes the first part of its name. The bat has a domed head and a short snout with a deep groove running between the nostrils. The lower lip is large and padded, but the upper lip has a simpler appearance, without any of the folds seen in some other bat species. The ears are relatively short, with a small tragus. The wings are long and narrow in shape, suggesting that the bat is agile in the air, but is not efficient at high speed flight. Its flight speed during foraging has been measured as .

Distribution

The variegated butterfly bat is found in many forested,

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...

, and bushveldt habitats south of the Sahara desert, at elevations of up to . It is found in a narrow band of territory running from

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

in the west as far as southern

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

and

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

in the east, and in much of southern and eastern Africa outside the tropical rainforest, as far as northern

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

, and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Two subspecies are currently recognised, although the exact classification has varied considerably over the years: * ''Glauconycteris variegata variegata'' - southern parts of the range * ''Glauconycteris variegata phalaena'' - northern parts of the range

Behaviour

Variegated butterfly bats are nocturnal, spending the day roosting in trees in small groups of up to ten individuals. Unlike many other bats, they do not wrap themselves in their wings while roosting. During the night they forage for flying insects, especially

moth Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not Butterfly, butterflies. They were previously classified as suborder Heterocera, but the group is Paraphyly, paraphyletic with respect to butterflies (s ...

s, in open terrain, close to the ground or above open water. Their

ultrasonic Ultrasound is sound with frequencies greater than 20 kilohertz. This frequency is the approximate upper audible limit of human hearing in healthy young adults. The physical principles of acoustic waves apply to any frequency range, includi ...

calls are

frequency modulated Frequency modulation (FM) is a signal modulation technique used in electronic communication, originally for transmitting messages with a radio wave. In frequency modulation a carrier wave is varied in its instantaneous frequency in proporti ...

, sweeping from 70 to 30 Hz. There is a single breeding season each year, which occurs during the winter. The exact timing of the breeding season varies widely across the range, based primarily on latitude, ranging from December in the north to August in the south. A single young is born after a

gestation Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregn ...

period of about three months, and is

weaned Weaning is the process of gradually introducing an infant human or other mammal to what will be its adult diet while withdrawing the supply of its mother's milk. In the UK, weaning primarily refers to the introduction of solid foods at 6 mont ...

before the age of two months.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1833069 Glauconycteris Bats of Africa Mammals described in 1861 Taxa named by Robert Fisher Tomes Taxonomy articles created by Polbot