| Striped Field Mouse | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Rodentia |
| Family: | Muridae |
| Genus: | Apodemus |
| Species: | A. agrarius |
| Binomial name | |
| Apodemus agrarius (Pallas, 1771) |
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The Striped Field Mouse (Apodemus agrarius) is a rodent in the family Muridae. The range of this species stretches from Eastern Europe to Japan, including Taiwan and Siberia.
Accepted synonyms include Apodemus albostriatus (Bechstein, 1801), Apodemus caucasicus (Kuznetzov, 1944), Apodemus chejuensis (Johnson and Jones, 1955), Apodemus coreae (Thomas, 1908), Apodemus gloveri (Kuroda, 1939), Apodemus harti (Thomas, 1898), Apodemus henrici (Lehmann, 1970), Apodemus insulaemus (Tokuda, 1939 and 1941), Apodemus istrianus (Kryštufek, 1985), Apodemus kahmanni (Malec and Storch, 1963) Apodemus karelicus (Ehrström, 1914), Apodemus maculatus (Bechstein, 1801), Apodemus mantchuricus (Thomas, 1898), Apodemus nicolskii (Charlemagne, 1933), Apodemus nikolskii (Migouline, 1927), Apodemus ningpoensis (Swinhoe, 1870), Apodemus ognevi (Johansen, 1923), Apodemus pallescens (Johnson and Jones, 1955), Apodemus pallidior (Thomas, 1908), Apodemus pratensis (Ockskay, 1831), Apodemus rubens (Oken, 1816), Apodemus septentrionalis (Ognev, 1924), Apodemus tianschanicus (Ognev, 1940) and Apodemus volgensis (Kuznetzov, 1944).[1]
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The upper parts of the striped field mouse are grayish brown with a rusty tint and there is a prominent mid-dorsal black stripe. The underparts are paler and grayish. The ears and eyes are relatively small. The body length reaches 126 millimeters and the tail length reaches 90 millimeters and it weighs up to 50 grams.[2]
The striped field mouse excavates a short burrow with a nesting chamber at a shallow depth. It is nocturnal during the summer but mainly diurnal in the winter. It lives in forests, cornfields and other agricultural land, uncultivated land, boundary strips, gullies, ravines and gardens. In the winter it takes up occupation in haystacks, storehouses and dwellings. Its diet varies and includes green parts of plants, roots, seeds, berries, nuts and insects. There are 3 to 5 broods in a year with an average of 6 young per litter and the population can build up rapidly in a good season. Limiting factors include frequent torrential rains during a warm season, early soil freezing and predation.[2]
Won, Byeong-o (원병오) (2004). 한국의 포유동물 (Hangugui poyudongmul, Mammals of Korea). Seoul: Dongbang Media. ISBN 89-8457-310-8.