Lesser horseshoe bats are the smallest of the European horseshoe bats, approximately the size of a person’s thumb. They are slightly smaller than their close relative, greater horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, weighing only 5-9 grams. They have a wingspan of 192 to 254 mm. Their body length is usually 35 to 45 mm and tail length is 23 to 33 mm. Like all other bats in the family Rhinolophidae, lesser horseshoe bats have leaf-like projections on their noses that aid in echolocation, and the species takes its name from their horseshoe-shaped nose. They have pointed ears without a tragus. Their legs are long and slender with strong feet to help hold onto branches and cave walls. The fur is brown on the back, while the underside is a whitish gray color. The wings, relatively broad and somewhat rounded, allow maneuverability while flying in dense vegetation. The ears and wing membranes are a grayish brown color and, when roosting, these bats wrap themselves completely inside their wings. Young lesser horseshoe bats are quite distinctive from adults because all of the fur on their body is gray.
Range mass: 5 to 9 g.
Range length: 35 to 45 mm.
Range wingspan: 192 to 254 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; heterothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Not much information has been recorded about the lifespans of these animals in the wild or in captivity. In the wild, the average lifespan is about 3 to 4 years. The maximum age recorded in captivity is 21 years.
Range lifespan
Status: captivity: 21 (high) years.
Typical lifespan
Status: wild: 3 to 4 years.
Lesser horseshoe bats prefer shrubland, valleys, and open grassland and woodland edges. They naturally roost in caves, but with the spread of the human population into their habitats, they have found homes in man-made structures, including roofs, tunnels, attics, and cellars. Because of their small size, they have an advantage over larger bats for access to small crevices and openings as roosting sites. In the summer, lesser horseshoe bats of the north roost in warm attics or heated basements. In the south, they roost in caves and tunnels. Lesser horseshoe bats hibernate from October until late April or early May, most often in caves, tunnels, and cellars. Roosting individuals prefer to hang in close proximity to others when hibernating. Summer and winter roosts are usually no more than 5-10 km apart.
Range elevation: 1160 to 2000 m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; suburban ; caves
The distribution of lesser horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus hipposideros, ranges from the western part of Europe to central Asia and from central Europe down to the northern part of Africa. Although they are widespread throughout their range, they are a rare species, and populations have declined in the northern parts of the range. They have become extinct in the southeastern part of Britain, and in Britain are now restricted to southwest England and Wales.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); ethiopian (Native )
Lesser horseshoe bats prey mainly on small insects, such as mosquitoes, crane flies, and beetles. They use their high frequency echolocation calls to detect prey. Along with their maneuverable wings, agility, and speed, they are formidable predators in forested areas. Compared to the greater horseshoe bat, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum, the lesser horseshoe bat spends a relatively longer time foraging. They move in a whirling fashion and tend to stay close to the ground, up to 5 m high. They have a fluttering flight, with relatively fast wing beats, and can hover in one spot. Most of the time, they snatch prey in mid-air, but can take up insects from branches, rocks, and bushes.
The main diet of lesser horseshoe bats consists of insects from 23 families and 7 orders (Lepidoptera, Neuroptera, Trichoptera, Hymenoptera, Coleoptera, Diptera, and Hemiptera). During April to September, Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Neuroptera are the main families consumed. They also eat spiders (Arachnida). Lesser horseshoe bats usually hunt near water and damp wooded areas and catch prey by hawking, snatching them from mid-air, grabbing them from branches and rocks, and pouncing on them near the ground.
Animal Foods: insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Primary Diet: carnivore (Insectivore )
Lesser horseshoe bats impact their ecosystem by feeding on large numbers of insects.
Lesser horseshoe bats help reduce insect pest populations.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
All bats are known to carry the rabies virus. Because bats are losing their habitat to human development and expansion, they are moving closer and closer to human populated areas. Even though accounts of bats transmitting rabies to humans are uncommon, the risk is present and caution must be taken when in contact with these creatures.
Because lesser horseshoe bats occupy many human dwellings when they roost, including cellars and attics, they are sometimes regarded as unwelcome pests. However, preventative measures can be taken to keep these bats from entering houses, such as blocking any crevices or holes in the walls through which these bats may crawl.
Negative Impacts: injures humans (causes disease in humans ); household pest
The IUCN has listed the current conservation status of lesser horseshoe bats as vulnerable, which means that they do not face extinction in the wild at the present time, but may face the risk of becoming vulnerable to extinction in the near future. The major threats to their population are habitat loss due to human disturbance, pollution, and a change in prey dynamics due to human disturbance.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
Echolocation is the primary means by which these bats capture prey. Calls range from 105 to 111 kHz, ending in a short drop in frequency. The duration is about 20 to 30 ms. The calls of lesser horseshoe bats sound much like a chirp, and overlap in characteristics with other species of bat, specifically Mediterranean horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus euryale, and Mehely’s horseshoe bats, Rhinolophus mehelyi. There are also small differences in frequency within Rhinolophus hipposideros depending on geographic location.
Communication Channels: acoustic ; chemical
Perception Channels: visual ; tactile ; echolocation ; chemical
Lesser horseshoe bats are vulnerable to terrestrial as well as aerial predators. They have a wide variety of avian predators including hawks, owls, and other large birds. On the ground, they are preyed upon by other mammals such as European pine martens (Martes martes), and domestic cats.
Echolocating bats are probably more vunerable to aerial predation than small insectivorous birds because most bats are relatively slow fliers and rely on echolocation rather than on vision.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
The mating system of lesser horseshoe bats is not well known. They breed in the autumn. There have been observations of courtship, in which a male and female chase each other around before settling down to mate.
Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Lesser horseshoe bats reach sexual maturity at about one year old. Mating occurs in the autum, and about one-half to two-thirds of females give birth to one young. The rest give birth to twins. In early April, females and some males (about 20%) form maternity roosts with group sizes ranging from 10 to 100 individuals. These roosts may be shared with bats of other species, including greater mouse-eared bats, Myotis myotis, and Geoffroy’s bats, Myotis emarginatus, but the species do not roost in the same parts of the roost structure. Young are born in mid June to early July and weigh about 1.8 grams. They are covered in fine, gray hairs except on the underside, and have sensitive hairs near the noseleaf. Their eyes open at about 10 days. They are weaned at 4 weeks and become independent at 6 to 7 weeks. Individuals in maternity roosts separate in August.
Breeding interval: Lesser horseshoe bats breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Breeding occurs in autumn.
Range number of offspring: 1 to 2.
Average weaning age: 4 weeks.
Range time to independence: 6 to 7 weeks.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female): 1 years.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male): 1 years.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
Average gestation period: 67 days.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 471 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 500 days.
Little information is available about the parental investment of lesser horseshoe bats. Females do most of the caring of the young and, although maternity roosts may consist of many individuals, females keep to themselves and do not help each other in caring for young. Young bats tend to develop quickly and reach independence soon after weaning.
Parental Investment: pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
Localized (South Sinai).
Native, resident.
The lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) is a type of small European and North African insectivorous bat, related to its larger cousin, the greater horseshoe bat. As with all horseshoe bats, the species gets its name from its distinctive horseshoe-shaped noseleaf.
The lesser horseshoe bat is one of the world's smallest bats, weighing only 5 to 9 grams (0.18 to 0.32 oz), with a wingspan of 192–254 millimetres (7.6–10.0 in) and a body length of 35–45 millimetres (1.4–1.8 in). It has strong feet that it uses to grasp rocks and branches, and can see well in spite of its small eyes. Like most bats, lesser horseshoe bats live in colonies and hunt their prey by echolocation, emitting ultrasound from specialized round pads in their mouth.
The base of its fur, which is soft and fluffy, is light grey in colour, with dorsal side fur smoky brown and the ventral side grey, with the exception of juvenile bats which are entirely dark grey. Ears and wing membranes are a light greyish brown.
When hunting they are quick and agile, often flying within five metres of the ground while avoiding contact with bushes and shrubs. The lesser horseshoe bat eats small insects, most of which are gleaned from stones and branches. Their favorite types of prey include flies, mosquitoes, butterflies, moths, and spiders. The average lifespan of Rhinolophus hipposideros is 3 years, although some individuals have been known to live far longer.[2]
Detailed observations done in Tunisia showed no obvious morphological differences between North African and European specimens.[3]
Lesser horseshoe bats mate in the autumn. Females give birth to one pup, normally between mid-June and the beginning of July. Pups weigh around 1.8 grams at birth, opening their eyes after around 10 days and becoming independent at six to seven weeks of age. The bats hibernate during the winter months in dark caves, mines, old buildings, and sometimes in cellars.
Females become sexually mature within their first year, with a study in Czechoslovakia showing that about 15% of females give birth at one year of age. Animals have been seen to chase each other as a preliminary to mating, which is done with the male hanging himself behind and over the female.
Nurseries are often shared with other species, such as the greater mouse-eared bat, but there is no direct mixing with other species. The move to nurseries occurs from April onwards, with between 10 and 100 females present and between 2 and 20 males. Approximately two-thirds of females in a nursery roost give birth between mid-June and mid-July.
The lesser horseshoe bat lives in warmer regions in foothills and highland, in particular wooded areas or areas of limestone, where it roosts in caves. In summer its range has been recorded up to 1160 m above sea level, and up to 2000 m in the winter, with the highest known nursery roost at 950 m. The species is sedentary, with the average movement between summer and winter roosts between 5 and 10 kilometers, although the longest recorded distance is 153 kilometers.
The species can be found in western Ireland and south-west Britain, with some larger populations in parts of Germany and the Bavarian foothills of the Alps. Rhinolophus hipposideros is widely distributed in the Mediterranean area, occurring in North Africa and on most larger islands to Asia Minor and around the Black Sea. In Asia, it can be found in Kashmir, the Near East, Iran, Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula, as well as part of East Africa. [4]
The UK distribution of the lesser horseshoe bat can be found on the National Biodiversity Network website here, but they are mostly found in Wales and the Southwest of England.
A large breeding colony of lesser horseshoe bats populates the smallest SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) in the UK, a 7m2 barn in Gloucestershire, England.[5] The species is threatened by a number of factors, including the disturbance or destruction of roosts, changes in agricultural practices (such as the increased use of insecticides, which reduce prey availability) and the loss of suitable foraging habitats. However, the Bat Conservation Trust's Hibernation Survey shows numbers in the UK are increasing significantly – by an average of 4.5% yearly between 1999 and 2012, a 77.2% total increase during that period.[1]
The lesser horseshoe bat has been recorded in the counties Galway, South Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Cork and Kerry. The population is estimated at 13,000.[6]
The lesser horseshoe bat is rare in Israel.
In the Balearic Islands, Rhinolophus hipposideros lives on all three of the main islands: Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza, as well as the smaller islands Cabrera and Formentera. Roosts containing up to 50 individuals have been found in caves such as the Cova de Ca Na Rea (Ibiza), though most groups tend to be smaller. In the Balearics, the lesser horseshoe bat travels only short distances, usually around 2 km, and is also the most common bat species on Ibiza.[2]
In Tunisia, the lesser horseshoe bat, though rarer than other bat species, is present in the humid climatic zone (i.e. the most northern part of the country). It had been mostly reported as isolated individuals or small groups of hibernating bats until 2011. Then, a maternity colony was found in the abandoned Hôtel des Chênes, South of Ain Draham. The presence of this first known maternity colony in the country surprised the investigators: the bats roosted under the roof and in the various rooms instead of trees or abandoned mines: It might therefore be of interest to search for maternity colonies of the species in North Africa, not only in wooded areas and underground sites but also in abandoned opened buildings.[3]
The frequencies used by this bat species for echolocation lie between 93 and 111 kHz, have most energy at 110 kHz and have an average duration of 31.7 ms.[7][8] Due to the frequency of their echolocation calls there are overlaps with those of the Mediterranean horseshoe bat and Mehely's horseshoe bat.
This species is protected in the European Union under the Habitats Directive. This species is also listed in the Berne Convention and is specifically targeted by the UNEP-EUROBATS convention. Several national legislation are also protecting this species and its habitats in many countries and regions.
In order to highlight the importance of protecting this species at the European scale, this species was selected as bat species of the Year 2018–2019 by the pan-European NGO BatLife Europe.[9]
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) The lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros) is a type of small European and North African insectivorous bat, related to its larger cousin, the greater horseshoe bat. As with all horseshoe bats, the species gets its name from its distinctive horseshoe-shaped noseleaf.