Living On The Edge

Introduction

Species in Recovery

Success Stories

Endangered Animals

Endangered Plants

Counties were Species
Can be viewed

Description:  The Indiana bat is a small dark gray or grayish brown bat with a wingspan of nine and one-half to ten and one-half inches.
It is easily confused with the little brown bat.  The Indiana bat has a keeled calcar – a cartilaginous spur of the ankle joint that extends toward the tail – and toe hairs which are sparse and do not extend beyond the claws.

Habitat and Habits:  During summer, females form nursery colonies under the bark of living or dead trees.  Nursery colonies are often located in wooded areas along streams or rivers or in upland forest areas.  The females have only one young during June.  The Indiana bat is insectivorous and feeds on a variety of small insects.  During winter, Indiana bats hibernate in caves and mines.  They usually hibernate in large dense clusters of up to several thousand individuals. 

Photograph Provided by Bat Conservation International

Distribution:  The range of the Indiana bat is the eastern United States and as far west as Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma.  In Iowa, the Indiana bat has been reported in 15 southern Iowa counties and Dubuque County in northeast Iowa.

Conservation Efforts:  The large wintering sites will continue to be protected.  Information about summer distribution and habitat requirements is being collected.

Reasons For Listing:  More than 85 percent of the Indiana bat population hibernates in just seven locations in Indiana, Kentucky and Missouri.  Natural- or human-caused disturbances to one or more of these sites would cause a significant reduction in the Indiana bat population.  The clearing of forest areas in the summer range of the species has also reduced suitable maternity areas.