Description: Pallid bats can be distinguished from other Kansas bats by: 1) long broad ears, separate at their bases and crossed by delicate ridges, 2) tall, tapering tragus, 3) relatively large eyes, 4) blunt nose, with a ridge the upper surface and sides of the nostrils, 5) pale yellowish-brown pelage on the upper parts, and lighter beneath, 6) short, broad wings, and 7) light-brown wing membranes.
Size: Adults may attain the following dimensions: total length 115-130 mm; tail 40-52 mm; hind foot 12-15 mm; ear 26-28 mm; weight 16-22 grams.
Range and Habitat: In Kansas, pallid bats are known only from Barber County. In winter they hibernate in caves and rock crevices. In summer they roost buildings, crevices in cliffs, or hollow trees during the day.
Reproduction: Breeding takes place in autumn and ovulation occurs during spring. After a gestation period of nine weeks, either one or two young are born in June or July, in maternity colonies of 20 to 100 bats. The young at birth are naked and blind; ears are also closed. The eyes open in two to five days, ears in ten days, and they are then sparsely-furred. Full juvenile pelage is present in three weeks. In four or five weeks the young can fly. There is a strong bond between a female and her offspring; she flies with them throughout the summer, leading the young back and forth between day and night roosts. Females breed in the autumn following their birth, but males probably do not breed until the following year.
Habits: The flight of pallid bats is usually slow, with close-quarter maneuvering and hovering. It typically forages near the ground, but its flight also can be rapid and straight. Pallid bats emerge relatively late in the evening, forage, and then move to night roosts before foraging again prior to returning to their daytime roost before dawn.
Food: In contrast to most bats, pallid bats may capture insects on the ground. They fly slowly, with much fluttering and hovering, and when prey is located, alight before attempting to capture it. Night roosts are used for resting and eating captured prey; these roosts can be identified by the accumulation of unconsumed hard parts of terrestrial insects such as crickets, grasshoppers, ground beetles, and scorpions.
Remarks: Owls and hawks and other predators that forage in caves prey on pallid bats.