Species Spotlight: Tricolored Bat (Perimyotis subflavus)
- hadrien57
- Jun 24
- 2 min read
by Lauren Gingerella, Certified Wildlife Biologist of Chickadee Conservation Consulting
One of the bat species documented on ORLT’s Coenen conservation easement is the tricolored bat (Perimyotis subflavus). Formally known as the eastern pipistrelle, tricolored bats range throughout eastern North America. Tricolored bats are the smallest species of bat found in Georgia, and their bodies are yellowish brown in color with black wings.
Tricolored bats are insectivores, feeding primarily on flies, beetles, mosquitoes, moths, and midges. In the winter, tricolored bats roost and hibernate in caves, mines, and roadway culverts. In the summer, tricolored bats will migrate and also roost in tree foliage, bark, and cavities.
White-nosed syndrome (WNS) has substantially affected tricolored bat survival. WNS is a fungal disease that affects cave-dwelling bats, causing them to wake up from hibernation and thus starve or freeze to death. Additional threats to the tricolored bat include summer habitat destruction and degradation, water quality decline, and mortality at wind farms. Tricolored bat populations have declined by at least 90%, resulting in them becoming a conservation concern across their range.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the tricolored bat as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2022. In Georgia, tricolored bats are listed as a Species of Greatest Conservation Need. To save tricolored bats, protection of and avoiding disturbance to hibernaculum caves is necessary. Also, the safeguard of summer roost sites, like large trees, and clean water is recommended for tricolored bat conservation.
