Gould's wattled bat
Throughout Australia, Tasmania and Norfolk Island.
Description
There is brown fur on the back and belly with blackish fur on the head and shoulders. The muzzle is short and the ears are short and broad. Photo: S. Churchill.
Commonly Chalinolobus gouldii roosts in tree hollows, particularly River red gums but may also be found amongst leaves and in buildings. Females form colonies of 8 to 80 individuals. Males are usually solitary but sometimes roost with other bat species. These bats can enter a torpor and hibernate in the cooler parts of their distribution.
Diet
and Foraging Moths are the predominant food, but they also eat cockroaches, cicadas, flies and caterpillars. They regularly forage 5 to 10 km from their roost site and occasionally 15 km away. They fly just below or within the lower tree canopy with sudden zig-zag changes in their course. Photo: D. Roff in Dixon (1983).
Copulation occurs in June and sperm is stored in the female over winter; ovulation and fertilisation takes place at the end of winter. Conception usually results in twins and each embryo implants in each uterine horn. The pregnancy lasts 3 months and the timing of births varies with latitude. Births in the north occur earlier, in late September. while in southern areas, young are born in late November. In central areas young are born in October. Young achieve adult size and are independent in 6 weeks.
Weight: Mean 14 g (Min. 10 g, Max 20 g)
Forearm length: 44 mm (Min. 36 mm, Max. 47 mm)
Source: S. Churchill.
Author: C. de Jong & C. Smith.
Churchill, S. (1998) Australian Bats, Reed New Holland, Sydney, pp. 132-133.
Dixon, J. M. (1983) Gould's wattled bat. In R, Strahan. (ed.). The Mammals of Australia, Reed Books, Chatswood, p. 340.