Thread by @AlexPetrovnia

Happy Early Halloween! 👻 Earlier this week, we talked about the diversity, social context, and adaptations of bats! For today's science thread, I'd like to zoom in on one particular species and one particular threat to that species. If you live in North America, listen up! 🧵🦇

Myotis lucifugus is a nondescript little bat. Its common name is even "little brown bat", and it is perhaps a bat that most fits the archetype of what we think of when we hear the word "bat". But these little guys are a lot more impressive than they look!

These bats were some of the most successful in North America, with a range from coast to coast and from Central Mexico to Alaska! This is a huge range of different biomes they have learned to survive and thrive in!

These little bats are insectivores, and are hugely important for maintaining insect populations, especially mosquitos. Even though these bats weigh less than 1/3rd of an ounce, they eat up to 1,000 insects a night!

They often use the membrane between their hind legs to "scoop" insects into their mouth as they fly! Little brown bats hibernate as well, putting on fat reserves to sleep through the winter. They have one pup a year per female, and are attentive mothers.

These bats live a surprisingly long time, especially for their size. While they may be tiny (getting up to about 4" long), they can live 6-7 years in the wild.
Overall, this species is extremely well adapted to its environment, surviving in a wide range of habitats.

That is, until humans brought a threat from overseas. A fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, to be precise. White nose syndrome is the disease caused by a fungus brought over from Europe by human travelers in recent years, and it has been incredibly destructive to this species.

This fungus kills slowly, which helps it spread. As we discussed in my previous bat thread, bats are very social and also travel long distances, which can leave them susceptible to disease. The long latency period of white nose syndrome helps spread this fungus to other bats.

White nose syndrome kills by waking the bats up from hibernation periodically, causing them to burn off their much needed fat reserves too early and starve before spring comes again. Communities can succumb to this syndrome over a winter, dropping dead to the cave floor.

The newest data has shown that white nose syndrome has killed over 90% of little brown bats over the past 10 years. Because they only produce one pup a year, it's unlikely this species will rebound quickly, especially not while white nose is still a threat.

So what can you do to help save this (and other) amazing bat species from white nose syndrome?
A wealth of information can be found here to get you started: whitenosesyndrome.org

Overall, don't harm bats! If bats are in a nuisance location (such as an attic or other building space), do your best to work to exclude them rather than killing them! Bats don't want to be near humans, but will take up residence in buildings if other habitat is unsuitable.

Information about excluding bats from nuisance locations can be found here: batcon.org/about-bats/bat…

For those willing to go the extra mile, consider putting up bat-housing near your home! Similar to birdhouses, bat houses provide safe places for bats to roost without them needing to live in buildings. Keeping bats close by can also help manage insect populations.

Bat boxes can be purchased at many locations, from online retailers, or can even be made at home. Some instructions for building a bat box can be found here:
dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/Wildlife…

You can also do right for bats by planting native pollinator species and supporting native insect populations! This can include removing objects like bug-zappers, fly tape, sprays, etc that kill insects artificially.

I hope this brief thread has helped you gain respect and appreciation for one species of your bat-neighbors! Would you like me to continue doing bat-species themed threads for the month of October?🦇

My earlier bat thread on the adaptation, diversity, and sociology of bats can be found here:

https://twitter.com/AlexPetrovnia/status/1446223425698254864?s=20

More information on this study and data can be found here: usgs.gov/news/white-nos…

As always, doing sci-comm such as this is part of my job! If you feel I've earned it, please consider dropping a tip to my venmo, @AlexPetrovnia!

What bat should I do next?

Also relevant fun fact! This is Clementine, my Myotis lucifigus tattoo!

Alt text: Alex showing his bicep, upon which is a realistic tattoo of a little brown bat, with the text "Myotis lucifugus" written underneath its outstretched wing.