Bats

Chiroptera

north american bat biologists

bats for biodiversity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiroptera
wikipedia chiroptera

web.extension.illinois.edu/wildlife bats
Bat Facts

inhs.uiuc.edu / mammal
Illinois web site.

batcon.org
Bat Conservation International


http://web.extension.illinois.edu/wildlife/directory_show.cfm?species=bat
IL  Wildlife  -  U of IL

http://www.fort.usgs.gov/BPD/BPD_bib_viewObs.asp?BibID=1453
Bats of the caves and mines of the Shawnee National Forest, southern Illinois

http://www.chiropteracabins.com/
Bat Houses by  Chiroptera Cabin Company

http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/inhsreports/nov-dec99/bhouse.html
The Naturalist's Apprentice: Build a House for Bats!

http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/naturalheritage/bats/bats.htm
Natural Resources   BATS NEED HELP

http://batmanagement.com/
Bat  Conservation  and  Management  -  why  bat  houses  FAIL .

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Bats are flying mammals in the order Chiroptera (pronounced /kaɪˈrɒptərə/). The forelimbs of bats are webbed and developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums and colugos, glide rather than fly, and only for short distances. Bats do not flap their entire forelimbs, like birds, but instead flap their spread out digits,[2] which are very long and covered with a thin membrane or patagium. Chiroptera comes from two Greek words, cheir (χειρ) "hand" and pteron (πτερον) "wing."


There are about 1,100 bat species worldwide, which represent about twenty percent of all classified mammal species.[3] About seventy percent of bats are insectivores. Most of the rest are frugivores, or fruit eaters. A few species feed from animals other than insects. Bats are present throughout most of the world and perform vital ecological roles such as pollinating flowers and dispersing fruit seeds. Many tropical plants depend entirely on bats for the distribution of their seeds.

Bats range in size from Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat measuring 29–33 mm (1.14–1.30 in) in length and 2 g (0.07 oz) in mass,[4] to the Giant Golden-crowned Flying-fox, which has a wing span of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and weighs approximately 1.2 kg (3 lb).
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Artificial roosts

Many people put up bat houses to attract bats just like many people put up birdhouses to attract birds. Reasons for this vary, but mostly center around the fact that bats are the primary nocturnal insectivores in most if not all ecologies. Bat houses can be made from scratch, made from kits, or bought ready made. Plans for bat houses exist on many web sites, as well as guidelines for designing a bat house[72]. Some conservation societies are giving away free bat houses to bat enthusiasts worldwide[citation needed].

A bat house constructed in 1991 at the University of Florida campus next to Lake Alice in Gainesville, Florida has a population of over 100,000 free-tailed bats.[73]

In Britain, British hardened field defences of World War II have been converted to make roosts for bats. Pillboxes that are well dug-in and thick walled are naturally damp and provide a stable thermal environment that is required by bats that would otherwise hibernate in caves. With a few minor modifications, suitable pillboxes can be converted to artificial caves for bats.[74][75]

Again in the UK, purpose-built bat houses are occasionally built when existing roosts are destroyed by developments such as new roads; one such has been built associated with bat bridges on the new (2008) A38 Dobwalls bypass.[citation needed]

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12 species of Bat in Illinois

Order Chiroptera: Bats
Family Vespertilionidae: Vespertilionid bats
Myotis lucifugus (Le Conte, 1831) - little brown bat
Myotis sodalis Miller & Allen, 1928 - Indiana bat FE / SE
Myotis austroriparius (Rhoads, 1897) - southeastern myotis SE
Myotis grisescens A.H. Howell, 1909 - gray bat FE / SE
Myotis septentrionalis (Trouessart, 1897) - northern long-eared bat or northern myotis
Lasionycteris noctivagans (Le Conte, 1831) - silver-haired bat
Pipistrellus subflavus (F. Cuvier, 1832) - eastern pipistrelle
Eptesicus fuscus (Beauvois, 1796) - big brown bat
Lasiurus borealis (Mülller, 1776) - eastern red bat
Lasiurus cinereus (Palisot de Beauvois, 1796) - hoary bat
Nycticeius humeralis (Rafinesque, 1818) - evening bat
Corynorhinus rafinesquii (Lesson, 1827) - Rafinesque's big-eared bat SE
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