Indiana or Social Myotis (Myotis sodalis)

County List:

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested or Nonforested Landscapes

Maternity Colony Habitat and Foraging Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the NEIGHBORHOOD

Maternity Colony Habitat:
      (Oak (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Bottomland Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or Fields/Pastures
   containing:
      Snags

Foraging Habitat:
      (Bottomland Hardwoods (Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
   adjacent to:
      River

Habitat List:

view size class definitions

Literature:

This bat spends the winter in mine tunnels and natural caverns, most of which are far south of the Great Lakes drainage.

Most Indiana bats migrate into the Great Lakes basin beginning in late April. Once here, females form maternity colonies underneath the loose bark of dead trees; green ash, red oak, shagbark hickory, American elm, and cottonwood are common roost species. Most roost trees are in heavily canopied forests, but some are in pastures or open wetlands.

Preferred foraging habitat is a dense floodplain forest where a bat flies just above or below the canopy. An Indiana bat eats flies, moths, and caddisflies.

Habitat: Favors limestone caves with pools of water. Solitary females or small maternity colonies bear young in hollow trees or under loose bark. Cannot tolerate high temperatures of attics.

Special Habitat Requirements: Caves for hibernation that have cool, stable temperatures of 40-46°F throughout the winter. Trees for nursery colonies.

Habitat Preferences: For at least six months of the year, November through April, the Indiana bat hibernates in large concentrations in caverns. In summer, females disperse in small groups to bear and rear their young in various kinds of less substantial retreats. The summer habitat of these bachelor males is little known.

Although Kurta captured lactating females in mist nets in Michigan, he obtained no information on the sites of nursery colonies. In other states, observers have found females with young using summer shelters under loose tree bark, in hollow trees, under a bridge, and in buildings. In Michigan, available evidence shows that slow-moving streams lined with trees are favored foraging areas. Kurta snared Indiana bats in mist nests stretched across Mill and Big Swan creeks in St. Joseph County, the Shiawassee River in Livingston County, the East Branch of the St. Joseph River in Hillsdale County, and the Thornapple River in Eaton County.

Food Habits: The Indiana bat preys on flying insects. Moths may be preferred foods, along with small beetles, small wasps, true bugs, flies, caddis-flies, and other insect groups.