Description
The yellow-winged bat has a total length of Rosevear, D. 1965. The Bats of West Africa. London: Trustees of the British Museum. and a body weight of .Kingdon, J. 1974. ''East African Mammals: An Atlas of Evolution in Africa, Volume 2, Part A: Insectivores and Bats''. London: Academic Press. Females tend to be slightly larger than males. The wingspan averages 36 cm.''Lavia frons'' Yellow-winged batEcology
The yellow-winged bat has an extensive range throughout sub-Saharan Africa south to northern Zambia. The bat mostly lives in woodland and savannah habitats and in elevations of less than 2,000 m. They prefer acacia trees and thorn bushes near bodies of water,Nowak, R. M. 1994. ''Walker’s bats of the bats of the world''. Johns Hopkins University Press. around which they fly.Happold, D. C. D. 1987. ''The mammals of Nigeria''. Clarendon Press, Oxford. They prefer to live in areas where the vegetation is well spaced, which allows them to view more of their surroundings. The yellow-winged bat primarily roosts in small trees and shrubs. They can also be found roosting in trees cavities and buildings. They will roost in two separate trees; a primary and a peripheral tree. Bats use their primary roost in the morning and again before evening.Vaughan, T., R. Vaughan. 1986. "Seasonality and the Behavior of the African Yellow-Winged Bat". ''Journal of Mammalogy'', 67: 91-102. Bats travel between primary and peripheral roost trees, especially on hot days, as they may need shade. These flights are typically short but longer flights have been recorded in midday. Unlike other false vampire bats, the yellow-winged bat feeds only on insects and not small vertebrates. They will feed on both soft- and hard-bodied insects. Bats may feed onBehavior and life history
The yellow-winged bat is a monogamous species. Males and females form pairs during the breeding season and establish their own foraging territories. They are no more than 1m apart when roosting together. One member is vigilant during the day, and is able to turn its head 225° and move its ears. Between the foraging periods in the morning and evening, the male visits the peripheral roost, protecting it from potential intruders. In the morning, the pairs interact with each other before splitting up for the day. The male and female meet again at the primary roost tree before evening to interact. The maximum amount of male-female social interaction occurs between May and early June. This is when insects are more numerous and the young are able to hone their hunting skills. The exact time at which the yellow-winged bat gives birth can vary by region; parturition occurs at the close of the dry season in October in Zambia, while at Lake Baringo in Kenya, it occurs the start of the so-called "long rains" in April. Females are pregnant for around 3 months with only one young being born. During the first few weeks, young hang on to their mothers. Soon, the young stay at the roost for around a week and develop self-sustained flight. Young are weaned when they are around 55 days old. Calls produced by this species include search-phase echolocation calls and some social calls that can be heard by humans. Echolocation helps give the bat information on close objects. Social calls are associated with aggression, copulation or mother-offspring interactions.Status
Little is known about human impacts on the population of the yellow-winged bat and the population dynamics of the species have not been recorded. It does not appear to be particularly threatened but is likely not very common.References
*D.E. Wilson & D.M. Reeder, 2005: Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference. Third Edition. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore * Mickleburgh, S., Hutson, A. & Bergmans, W. 2004.