Distributed in the north-west of France, south of Germany, Austria, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Ukraine to southern Russia. Occurs in all Mediterranean islands, Canary Islands, North Africa, Asia Minor, in the near East, the whole Arabian Peninsula to Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.1 In Bulgaria it is a rare species – established in South Bulgaria.
Small bat with brown dorsal fur and with pale beige, whitish or pale yellowish ventral side. The ears and face in adult animals are reddish-brown, in younger animals – dark brown. The flight membrane between the fifth finger and the foot has a sharply defined wide white border of 1 – 2 mm.
In open areas up to 14 ms long QCF calls with peak frequencies of 34 – 38,5 kHz; FM – QCF calls with higher peak frequencies of up to 40 kHz; FM calls close to obstacles with end frequencies of up to 45 kHz.
Synanthropic species, very common in cities and settlements. This species prefers warm and dry places for habitats. The hunting grounds are around street lamps, gardens, parks or around water bodies. This is a sedentary species.
Roosts are in cliffs or gaps in buildings: window blinds, wall fissures, roof under-boarding and roofing tiles. Winter roosts are often in exterior wall cavities of buildings and also in rock crevices.
Nursery colonies are small, up to 20 females. They give birth to 1 or 2 pups at the end of May and in the beginning of June. Young animals can become sexually mature in their first year. Mating takes place in August and September.
The flight is rapid and manoeuvrable above 2 – 10 m off the ground. This species hunts early in the evening. The food is captured in flight and it consists of small flying insects of Hymenoptera, Diptera and small beetles.
Very common species in human settlements, because of this the renovation of buildings is a threat.
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”.