The striped field mouse (''Apodemus agrarius'') is a

rodent Rodents (from Latin , 'to gnaw') are mammals of the Order (biology), order Rodentia (), which are characterized by a single pair of continuously growing incisors in each of the upper and lower jaws. About 40% of all mammal species are roden ...

in the family

Muridae The Muridae, or murids, are the largest family of rodents and of mammals, containing approximately 1,383 species, including many species of mice, rats, and gerbils found naturally throughout Eurasia, Africa, and Australia. The name Muridae com ...

. The range of this species stretches from

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...

Eastern Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea a ...

Synonyms

Accepted synonyms include ''Apodemus albostriatus'' (Bechstein, 1801), ''Apodemus caucasicus'' (Kuznetzov, 1944), ''Apodemus chejuensis'' (Johnson and Jones, 1955), ''Apodemus coreae'' (Thomas, 1908), ''Apodemus gloveri'' (Kuroda, 1939), ''Apodemus harti'' (Thomas, 1898), ''Apodemus henrici'' (Lehmann, 1970), ''Apodemus insulaemus'' (Tokuda, 1939 and 1941), ''Apodemus istrianus'' (Kryštufek, 1985), ''Apodemus kahmanni'' (Malec and Storch, 1963), '' Apodemus karelicus'' (Ehrström, 1914), ''Apodemus maculatus'' (Bechstein, 1801), ''Apodemus mantchuricus'' (Thomas, 1898), ''Apodemus nicolskii'' (Charlemagne, 1933), ''Apodemus nikolskii'' (Migouline, 1927), ''Apodemus ningpoensis'' (Swinhoe, 1870), ''Apodemus ognevi'' (Johansen, 1923), ''Apodemus pallescens'' (Johnson and Jones, 1955), ''Apodemus pallidior'' (Thomas, 1908), ''Apodemus pratensis'' (Ockskay, 1831), ''Apodemus rubens'' (Oken, 1816), ''Apodemus septentrionalis'' (Ognev, 1924), ''Apodemus tianschanicus'' (Ognev, 1940) and ''Apodemus volgensis'' (Kuznetzov, 1944).''Apodemus agrarius''
Mammal Species of the World. Bucknell.edu. Retrieved on 2012-12-28.

Description

The upper parts of the striped field mouse are grayish brown with a rusty tint with a prominent mid-dorsal black stripe. The under parts are paler and grayish. The ears and eyes are relatively small. The body length reaches 126 mm, with a tail of up to 90 mm, and it weighs up to 50 g.AgroAtlas: Pests. Apodemus agrarius Pallas. – Black-Striped Field Mouse
Agroatlas.ru. Retrieved on 2012-12-28.

Distribution and habitat

The striped field mouse has an extensive but

disjunct distribution In biology, a taxon with a disjunct distribution is one that has two or more groups that are related but considerably separated from each other geographically. The causes are varied and might demonstrate either the expansion or contraction of a s ...

, split into two ranges. The first reaches from central and eastern Europe to

Lake Baikal Lake Baikal (, russian: Oзеро Байкал, Ozero Baykal ); mn, Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur) is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the Federal subjects of Russia, federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast, I ...

(Russia) in the north, and China in the south. The second includes parts of the Russian Far East and from there reaches from

Mongolia Mongolia; Mongolian script: , , ; lit. "Mongol Nation" or "State of Mongolia" () is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south. It covers an area of , with a population of just 3.3 millio ...

to Japan. Its expansion across Eastern Europe appears to be relatively recent; the species is thought to have reached

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in the 1990s. The striped field mouse inhabits a wide range of habitats including the edges of woodlands, grasslands and marshes, pastures and gardens, and urban areas. In the winter, it may be found in haystacks, storehouses, and dwellings.

Ecology

The striped field mouse excavates a short burrow with a nesting chamber at a shallow depth. It is nocturnal during the summer, but mainly diurnal in the winter. Its diet varies and includes green parts of plants, roots, seeds, berries, nuts, and insects. Three to five broods are born in a year with an average of six young per litter and the population can build up rapidly in a good season. Limiting factors include frequent torrential rains during a warm season, early soil freezing, and predation.

Interaction with humans

The striped field mouse is a common agricultural pest within its range, particularly in years of population outbreaks, and a natural vector of diseases commonly associated with murine rodents.

References

External links

*
Apodemus agrarius
IUCN * {{Taxonbar, from=Q631822 Mammals of Asia Rodents of Europe Apodemus Mammals described in 1771 Taxa named by Peter Simon Pallas