Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: least concern
These mice frequently cause damage to crops or raid food stores. They are also potential carriers of hemorragic fever.
These mice are very adaptable in their dietary habits. They eat roots, grains, seeds, berries nuts and insects.
Apodemus agrarius is found in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Southern Siberia, Manchuria, Korea, Southeastern China and Taiwan.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native ); oriental (Native )
Black-striped field mice are commonly found in grassy fields, cultivated areas, rice paddies, woodlands and forests.
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest
Average lifespan
Status: captivity: 4.0 years.
The dorsum of these mice is yellow-brown with a prominant black, mid-dorsal stripe. The total length of these animals ranges from 94mm to 116mm, of which 19mm to 21mm are tail. Females have eight nipples.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Average mass: 21.5 g.
Average basal metabolic rate: 0.373 W.
Mice of this species are capable of breeding throughout the year. Females can produce up to six litters, each of up to six young, annually.
Key Reproductive Features: gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual
Average birth mass: 1.9 g.
Average gestation period: 22 days.
Average number of offspring: 5.7.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
Sex: male: 76 days.
Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
Sex: female: 76 days.
The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) is a rodent in the family Muridae. The range of this species stretches from Eastern Europe to Eastern Asia.
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).[2]
The upper parts of the striped field mouse are grayish brown with a rusty tint with a prominent mid-dorsal black stripe. The under parts are paler and grayish. The ears and eyes are relatively small. The body length reaches 126 mm, with a tail of up to 90 mm, and it weighs up to 50 g.[3]
The striped field mouse has an extensive but disjunct distribution, split into two ranges. The first reaches from central and eastern Europe to Lake Baikal (Russia) in the north, and China in the south. The second includes parts of the Russian Far East and from there reaches from Mongolia to Japan. Its expansion across Eastern Europe appears to be relatively recent; the species is thought to have reached Austria in the 1990s.[4]
The striped field mouse inhabits a wide range of habitats including the edges of woodlands, grasslands and marshes, pastures and gardens, and urban areas.[4] In the winter, it may be found in haystacks, storehouses, and dwellings.[3]
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. Its diet varies and includes green parts of plants, roots, seeds, berries, nuts, and insects. Three to five broods are born in a year with an average of six 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.[3]
The striped field mouse is a common agricultural pest within its range, particularly in years of population outbreaks, and a natural vector of diseases commonly associated with murine rodents.[3]
The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) is a rodent in the family Muridae. The range of this species stretches from Eastern Europe to Eastern Asia.
