Lesser horseshoe bat

Description

The lesser horseshoe bat, with a length of about 40 mm and a maximum wingspan of 250 mm, is much smaller than the greater horseshoe bat, which it otherwise closely resembles. Its upperparts are greyish brown without a reddish tinge, the underparts grey to greyish white. The young are dark grey. The species is distinctive in that it is the smallest European Rhinolophus species and its nostril has a wedge-shaped saddle.

Habitat

The heat-loving lesser horseshoe bat prefers structurally rich areas at the edges of settlements in the low mountain ranges and also occurs in wooded areas. Small tunnels or tree hollows serve as summer roosts. Like all representatives of their species, the animals always hang freely, i.e. they are never hidden in crevices or holes. The highest known weekly roost of this species in Switzerland is at 1,177 m above sea level. Especially in the north of their range, they are often found in attics, near chimneys or in boiler rooms.

They prefer to hunt at night in deciduous forests and semi-open landscapes such as parks, avenues, orchards and on areas next to woody plants near water bodies and buildings. Almost gap-free structures of copses and hedges are important for orientation in flight. "Open areas of more than 200 m are hardly ever flown over."

The text is a translation of an excerpt from Wikipedia (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kleine_Hufeisennase). On wikipedia the text is available under a „Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike“ licence. Status: 09 August 2021