What is this bat from the Western Cape, South Africa?

I have some bats too that I would love to ID. There were a few of these very small bats roosting in roof cracks on Dunedin Farm, about 60km north of Beaufort West in the Karoo. They were jammed in with some Egyptian Freetail bats.

I think it is either Myotis tricolor or Cistugo lesueuri and looks more like the latter from the few pictures I can find. Thanks Jon

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2 Comments

  • Mike Hoit

    Hi Jon
    Not sure I can add a great deal to the ID process but for whats it’s worth these look very much like some bats I saw in 2015 at Perdehoek, NW of Port Elizabeth (Eastern Cape). I didn’t manage any pics but got some decent brief binocular views as they paused on leaving the roost. I tentatively put them down as Myotis tricolor (with some misgivings based on the field appearance) mainly due to the IUCN range maps, but hadn’t considered Cistugo lesueuri.
    Hopefully someone can come up with some specialist knowledge, though I still haven’t had any joy with a seemingly strikingly-patterened bat from India last winter!

  • Jon Hall

    Thanks Mike, I am now pretty sure they are Cistugo. Fiona Reid is certain they are not Myotis tricolor which have very distinctive fur with orange tips. The picture of lesueuri from the Bats of Southern & Central Africa is a ringer for my first pic. Plus its a species that has been recorded in the farm before.

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