Mammals of the WorldPainted Woolly Bat
Kerivoula picta
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Genus
- Kerivoula
- IUCN status
- NT
- Distribution
- India|Sri Lanka|Bangladesh|Nepal|Myanmar|Thailand|Laos|Vietnam|Cambodia|China|Malaysia|Indonesia
- Realm
- Indomalaya|Australasia
Other names: Painted Bat
About this species
- Size
- Body 3-5.5cm, wingspan 18-30cm
- Weight
- About 5g
- Diet
- Small insects, caught in flight
- Habitat
- Old weaver and sunbird nests, banana leaves and hut eaves
- Litter size
- 1
The painted bat is tiny, about 5 g, with body and tail each 3 to 5.5 cm and a wingspan of 18 to 30 cm. It is bright orange or scarlet with black wings and orange along the fingers. It hunts small insects in flights of one to two hours, using its tail membrane as a net (Wikipedia, general species account).
It roosts in small groups of two to six, in the suspended nests of weaver finches and sunbirds, in banana leaves or under hut eaves, and family units of a mother, father and one young are reported. Breeding is thought to be between June and August. The page lists mainland and Southeast Asian countries and does not mention Sri Lanka, which the national list does include. Nationally Near Threatened (Sri Lanka National Red List 2012).
Description: Wildlife of Sri Lanka guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)