Nearly all of Europe and Asia. Rare species in Southeast Europe. Bulgaria – all over the country.1
A small bat with short ears which are not characteristic for a Myotis species. The ears are brown, paler inside. The tragus is short and sharpened. The dorsal fur is brown or brown-grey. The ventral side is light grey to whitish-grey and it is clearly delineated from the dorsal side. The face is reddish-brown and the young animals up to the age of over one year have a black-blue mark on the lower lip. This mark disappears completely by 4 – 5 years. This species has large feet covered with long, stiff bristles.
The calls are 3 – 7 ms long with frequency that starts at 55 – 95 kHz and ends at 27 – 32 kHz.
Forests, parks and traditional orchards with water nearby. Myotis daubentonii is connected with the water, but not as closely as Myotis dasycneme. The hunting grounds can be from 2 to 8 separate places. The females hunt within 2,3 km from the roost and the males 3,7 km.
The roosts are in tree holes and rock crevices. Myotis daubentonii can be found in cavities in bridges. Winter roosts are usually in tree holes and rock crevices, but could also be in caves, mines and bunkers.
Nursery colonies are formed in the summer and they comprise of 20 – 50 females. The males form small separate colonies. The copulation is from fall to spring. The summer roosts in tree holes are changed every 2 – 5 days. The female gives birth to one pup. Within three weeks the young start to fly and after 4 – 6 weeks they are independent. This species lives up to 20 years.
The flight is fast and agile 5 – 40 cm over the water surface. The insects are usually captured with the feet or tail membrane from the water’s surface. Their food includes moths, Diptera, aphids, Hymenoptera and other insects.
Daubenton’s bat increased considerably in a large part of central Europe. In Bulgaria the threats for this species are not explored yet.
Christian Dietz and Andreas Kiefer (2014), “Bats of Britain and Europe”;
Vasil Popov, Atila Sedefchev (2003), “Mammals in Bulgaria”;
Vasil Popov, Nikolay Spasov, Teodora Ivanova, Borqna Mihaylova and Kiril Georgiev (2007), “Mammals important for conservation in Bulgaria”.