Reddish-black Myotis

About this species

Habitat

Montane and subtropical forest; probably roosts in caves

Range

Vietnam and Laos north through China, Taiwan and the Korean Peninsula

The reddish-black myotis, also called the black-winged myotis, is an East Asian vesper bat known colloquially in South Korea as the red bat or golden bat. Robert Fisher Tomes described it as a species in 1858, after which it was grouped with Hodgson's bat. A 2014 morphological study found substantial differences and restored Myotis rufoniger as a separate species. The same study's wing-pattern phylogeny placed it nearer Welwitsch's bat than Hodgson's bat (Wikipedia, general species account).

Its documented distribution is broad but patchy, extending from Vietnam and Laos north through China and Taiwan to the Korean Peninsula, with an additional record from Tsushima. Habitat records include montane forest in Korea and Taiwan and subtropical forest farther south. The available species account suggests that it roosts in caves in at least part of this range. More precise Korean roost, diet and breeding information is omitted because the opened account does not provide it (Wikipedia, general species account).

Description: Wildlife of Korea guide, Wildlife of Everywhere (wildlifeofeverywhere.com); general species information paraphrased from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA)