New Zealand long-tailed bat

New Zealand long-tailed bat
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Chalinolobus
Species: C. tuberculata
Binomial name
Chalinolobus tuberculata
(Forster, 1844)

The New Zealand long-tailed bat (Chalinolobus tuberculata), also known as the long-tailed wattled bat or pekapeka-tou-roa (Māori), is one of 15 species of bats in the genus Chalinolobus variously known as "pied bats", "wattled bats" or "long-tailed bats". It is endemic to New Zealand, but is closely related to five other species of wattled or lobe-lipped bats in Australia and elsewhere.

The bat's echolocation calls include a relatively low frequency component which can be heard by some people. It can fly at 60 kilometres per hour and has a very large home range (100 km²). An aerial insectivore, it feeds on small moths, midges, mosquitoes and beetles primary along forest edges. It weighs 8-12g.

Females give birth to a single pup during the summer and provide sole care for their young, gathering with other females in maternity roosts of up to 120 individuals. These subcolonies move to new trees almost every day, breaking apart into smaller groups or reforming into larger ones. In some areas limestone caves are also used but mainly as a night roost between feeding bouts.

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