Antrozous pallidus. Photographer: Dr. Lloyd Glenn Ingles. Copyright © 1999 California Academy of Sciences.
The Pallid Bat is a relatively large, pale bat with large ears. It occurs throughout the Chihuahuan Desert Region as well as north into extreme southwestern Canada and south in Mexico to Jalisco and Querétaro. Occurrence is primarily in arid habitats, from low desert into, marginally, Ponderosa Pine or other Transition-Zone communities. Colonies of 20 or more individuals are the norm (Hermanson 1999), and buildings, mines, and natural caves are utilized as roosts. The diet includes not only beetles, moths, and grasshoppers, but also such ground dwellers as scorpions and Jerusalem Crickets. More information is given by Hermanson and O'Shea (1983).
Hermanson, J. W. 1999. Pallid Bat/Antrozous. Pp. 125-126, in D. E. Wilson and S. Ruff, eds. The Smithsonian book of North American mammals. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C., 750 pp.
Hermanson, J. W., and T. J. O'Shea. 1983. Antrozous pallidus. Mammalian Species 213:1-8.
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Last Update: 22 Jul 2009