Little bentwing bat
East coast of Australia, from Cape York to Northern New South Wales. Extralimital distribution includes New Caledonia, New Guinea, Indonesia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
Description The fur on the back is chocolate brown and slightly lighter on the belly. This species has a short muzzle and a domed head with short, rounded, roughly triangular ears. The last phalanx on the 3rd finger is 4 times the length of the middle phalanx; this gives the appearance of a bent wing. Photo: S. Churchill.
The Little bentwing is a cave dwelling species that congregates in maternity colonies in the summer months which disperse during the winter. In the southern part of their range they hibernate during winter, while in the north they remain active throughout the year. There is a colony of 100,000 bats at Mt Etna in central Queensland.
Diet and Foraging They eat a variety of insects including crane flies, ants, moths and wasps. This species flies rapidly and with considerable manoeuvrability between shrub and canopy layers. Photo: G. A. & M. M. Hoye in Dwyer (1983).
Mating, fertilisation and implantation occur in July and August, however embryonic development is delayed until September with a single young being born in December.
Source: Queensland Deparment of Primary Industries.
Author: C. de Jong & C. Smith.
Churchill, S. (1998) Australian Bats, Reed New Holland, Sydney, pp. 144-145.
Dwyer, P. D. (1983) Little bentwing bat. In R. Strahan (ed.). The Mammals of Australia, Reed Books, Chatswood, pp. 338-339.