Currently, nothing is known about the predators of bumblebee bats.
Bumblebee bats are about the size of a large bumblebee, hence the common name. These bats are considered among one of the smallest mammals in the world. The size of the head and body is 29 to 33 mm long. The length of the bumblebee bat forearms are 22 to 26 m, and adults weigh between 1.7 and 2.0 g. It also has small eyes that are mostly hidden by fur. Bumblebee bats have 28 teeth, which includes relatively large incisors. The lower incisors are long and narrow. The upper body of bumblebee bats can be 2 different colors: brownish red, or gray. The underside of the bat is a paler color while the wings and the membrane between the legs, called the uropatagium, are darker.
Bumblebee bats have a few distinct characters. First, bumblebee bats do not have a tail even though they have two caudal vertebrae. Their uropatagium are rather large. Their noses are pig-like, with large nostrils separated by a wide septum. Finally they also have large ears that are 9 to 10.2 mm long. The tragus is around half the size of the ears. Females have 2 sets of nipples, one on the chest and the other in the pubic area. The nipples in the pubic area are thought to be vestigial or not fully developed. The males have a large swelling in the gland that is at the base of their throats. The wings of bumblebee bats are long and wide, making them well adapted for hovering. They have thumbs that have claws. Their hindfoot is slender, narrow, and long. Nowak (1999) descirbed bumblebee bat skulls as small with a large inflated spherical braincase and lacking lambdoidal crests, postorbital processes, and supraoccipital ridges. In both genders a sagittal crest, which is a bone that runs down the top middle of the skull, is visible. The zygomata, which is the arch in the cheek, is described as slender but complete (Nowak 1999).
Range mass: 1.7 to 2.0 g.
Range length: 29 to 33 mm.
Sexual Dimorphism: sexes alike
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Bumblebee bat lifespans are unknown but it is thought to be around 5 to 10 years based on the lifespans of other closely related bats.
Bumblebee bats preferentially use limestone caves for roosting near the tops of the caves for warmth. Bamboo forests serve for the habitat in which they find their food. Bumblebee bats commonly forage in the upper canopy of the forest.
Habitat Regions: tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: rainforest
Other Habitat Features: caves
Bumblebee bats (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) are found in the Oriental Region of the world. They are found in Thailand, in the Bilauktaung mountain ranges in the western part of the country; Bumblebee bats are mainly located in the Sai Yoke, Kanchanaburi Province. They can also be found in the south eastern parts of Myanmar near the border with Thailand.
Biogeographic Regions: oriental (Native )
Bumblebee bats use echolocation to navigate their environment. They use sounds of a high intensity and have a constant frequency lasting as long as 2 ms followed by a shallow downward sweep lasting a duration of 1 ms. The beginning of the call has an upward sweep. The bats have a base frequency of 35 kHz. They also use two other harmonics. The second one is at 70 kHz and the third one, which is weaker, is at 105 kHz. Nothing is known about how the bats communicate within their roosts.
Communication Channels: acoustic
Perception Channels: tactile ; echolocation ; chemical
Bumblebee bats are considered vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and endangered on the U.S. Endangered species list. The IUCN Redlist reports that the current population of 5100 individuals is decreasing. According to the IUCN Redlist, the species is disturbed by human activity in caves. This activity includes habitat-altering limestone extractions. Their foraging habitats are also being deforested, further decreasing prey availability.
US Federal List: endangered
CITES: no special status
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable
Bumblebee bats have no known negative effects on humans.
As insectivores bumblebee bats may help with pest control, but its impact is not considered substantial due to small population sizes.
Positive Impacts: controls pest population
Due to small numbers and small stature of bumblebee bats, its ecosystem impact on its prey is probably not substantial.
Insects are bumblebee bats main source of nutrition, but they also eat some spiders. They are aerial feeders, meaning they catch their prey while flying. They prefer to fly and forage along the tops of the bamboo trees.
Animal Foods: insects; terrestrial non-insect arthropods
Primary Diet: carnivore (Insectivore )
Little is known about the mating systems of bumblebee bats.
Bumblebee bats have one offspring per year and breed once per year in late April to May. However, little else is known about bumblebee bat reproduction.
Breeding interval: Bumblebee bats breed once yearly.
Breeding season: Bumblebee bats breed in late April.
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average time to independence: 1 years.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
While inside the cave offspring are usually found attached to the mother. While the mother is foraging the offspring is left alone.
Parental Investment: female parental care ; pre-weaning/fledging (Protecting: Female)
Kitti's hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), also known as the bumblebee bat, is a near-threatened species of bat and the only extant member of the family Craseonycteridae. It occurs in western Thailand and southeast Myanmar, where it occupies limestone caves along rivers.
Kitti's hog-nosed bat is the smallest species of bat and arguably the world's smallest mammal. It has a reddish-brown or grey coat, with a distinctive pig-like snout. Colonies range greatly in size, with an average of 100 individuals per cave. The bat feeds during short activity periods in the evening and dawn, foraging around nearby forest areas for insects. Females give birth annually to a single offspring.
Although the bat's status in Myanmar is not well known, the Thai population is restricted to a single province and may be at risk of extinction. Its potential threats are primarily anthropogenic, and include habitat degradation and the disturbance of roosting sites.[1]
Kitti's hog-nosed bat is small at about 29 to 33 mm (1.1 to 1.3 in) in length and 2 g (0.071 oz) in mass,[2][3] hence the common name of "bumblebee bat". It is the smallest species of bat and may be the world's smallest mammal, depending on how size is defined. The main competitors for the title are small shrews; in particular, the Etruscan shrew may be lighter at 1.2 to 2.7 g (0.042 to 0.095 oz) but its body is longer, measuring 36 to 53 mm (1.4 to 2.1 in) from its head to the base of the tail.[4]
The bat has a distinctive swollen, pig-like snout[3] with thin, vertical nostrils.[5] Its ears are relatively large, while its eyes are small and mostly concealed by fur.[6] In the jaw, the premaxillae are not fused with surrounding bones, and the coronoid process is significantly reduced.[7] Its teeth are typical of an insectivorous bat.[6] The dental formula is 1:1:1:3 in the upper jaw and 2:1:2:3 in the lower jaw,[5] with large upper incisors.[6]
The bat's upperparts are reddish-brown or grey, while the underside is generally paler.[6] The wings are relatively large and darker in colour, with long tips that allow the bat to hover.[3] The second digit of the wing is made of a single short phalanx. And the humerus has an increased number of locking tubercles on its head and beyond. There is a considerable fusion in the axial skeleton, concerning the thoracic (three posterior vertebrae), lumbar (two posterior) and sacral (all) sections. The bat has particularly slender legs, with rather thin fibula.[7] Despite having two caudal vertebrae, Kitti's hog-nosed bat has no visible tail.[6] There is a large web of skin between the hind legs (the uropatagium) which may assist in flying and catching insects, although there are no tail bones or calcars to help control it in flight.[3][6][8]
Kitti's hog-nosed bat occupies limestone caves along rivers within dry evergreen or deciduous forests.[3] In Thailand, it is restricted to a small region of the Tenasserim Hills in Sai Yok District, Kanchanaburi Province, within the drainage basin of the Khwae Noi River.[3][9] While Sai Yok National Park in the Dawna Hills contains much of the bat's range, some Thai populations occur outside the park and are therefore unprotected.[3]
Since the 2001 discovery of a single individual in Myanmar, at least nine separate sites have been identified in the limestone outcrops of the Dawna and Karen Hills outside the Thanlwin, Ataran, and Gyaing Rivers of Kayin and Mon States.[9] The Thai and Myanmar populations are morphologically identical, but their echolocation calls are distinct.[9] It is not known whether the two populations are reproductively isolated.[9]
Kitti's hog-nosed bat roosts in caves in limestone hills, far from the entrance. While many caves contain only 10 to 15 individuals, the average group size is 100, with a maximum of about 500. Individuals roost high on walls or roof domes, far apart from each other.[10] Bats also undertake seasonal migration between caves.
Kitti's hog-nosed bat has a brief activity period, leaving its roost for only 30 minutes in the evening and 20 minutes at dawn. These short flights are easily interrupted by heavy rain or cold temperatures.[10] During this period, the bat forages within fields of cassava and kapok or around the tops of bamboo clumps and teak trees, within one kilometre of the roosting site.[3][10] The wings seem to be shaped for hovering flight, and the gut contents of specimens include spiders and insects that are presumably gleaned off foliage. Nevertheless, most prey is probably caught in flight.[10] Main staples of the bat's diet include small flies (Chloropidae, Agromyzidae, and Anthomyiidae), hymenopterans, and psocopterans.[10]
Late in the dry season (around April) of each year, females give birth to a single offspring. During feeding periods, the young either stays in the roost or remains attached to the mother at one of her two vestigial pubic nipples.[6][10]
Kitti's hog-nosed bat is the only extant species in the family Craseonycteridae, which is grouped in the superfamily Rhinolophoidea as a result of molecular testing. Based on this determination, the bat's closest relatives are members of the families Hipposideridae and Rhinopomatidae.[5]
Kitti's hog-nosed bat was unknown to the world at large prior to 1974. Its common name refers to its discoverer, Thai zoologist Kitti Thonglongya. Thonglongya worked with a British partner, John E. Hill, in classifying bats of Thailand; after Thonglongya died suddenly in February 1974, Hill formally described the species, giving it the binomial name Craseonycteris thonglongyai in honour of his colleague.[11][12][7]
As of the species' review in 2019, Kitti's hog-nosed bat is listed by the IUCN as near-threatened, with a downward population trend.[1]
Soon after the bat's discovery in the 1970s, some roosting sites became disturbed as a result of tourism, scientific collection, and even the collection and sale of individuals as souvenirs. However, these pressures may not have had a significant effect on the species as a whole, since many small colonies exist in hard-to-access locations, and only a few major caves were disturbed. Another potential risk is the activity of local monks, who have occupied roost caves during periods of meditation.[10]
Currently, the most significant and long-term threat to the Thai population could be the annual burning of forest areas, which is most prevalent during the bat's breeding season. In addition, the proposed construction of a pipeline from Myanmar to Thailand may have a negative impact.[10] Threats to the Myanmar population are not well known.[3]
In 2007, Kitti's hog-nosed bat was identified by the Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered project as one of its Top 10 "focal species".[13]
Kitti's hog-nosed bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai), also known as the bumblebee bat, is a near-threatened species of bat and the only extant member of the family Craseonycteridae. It occurs in western Thailand and southeast Myanmar, where it occupies limestone caves along rivers.
Kitti's hog-nosed bat is the smallest species of bat and arguably the world's smallest mammal. It has a reddish-brown or grey coat, with a distinctive pig-like snout. Colonies range greatly in size, with an average of 100 individuals per cave. The bat feeds during short activity periods in the evening and dawn, foraging around nearby forest areas for insects. Females give birth annually to a single offspring.
Although the bat's status in Myanmar is not well known, the Thai population is restricted to a single province and may be at risk of extinction. Its potential threats are primarily anthropogenic, and include habitat degradation and the disturbance of roosting sites.
