Description: The evening bat can be distinguished from other Kansas bats by: 1) having only 30 teeth, 2) short sparse hair which is medium to dark brown, with the basal segments of individual hairs black and tips brown, 3) underparts which are lighter and more buffy than the dorsum, and 4) naked wing and tail membranes which are thick and black, as is the muzzle. The short tragus curves forward. This bat most nearly resembles the little brown myotis, but has only one pair of incisor teeth. Sexes are alike and there is no seasonal variation in pelage.
Size: Adults may attain the following dimensions; total length 83-99 mm; tail 35-39 mm; hind foot 8-9 mm; ear 12.5-14 mm; weight 7-14 grams.
Range and Habitat: The evening bat is present in spring, summer and autumn in the eastern two thirds of Kansas, but migrates to the south in winter. This bat arrives in Kansas as early as the end of April and leaves by mid October. Large amounts of fat are accumulated in autumn prior to migration.
Reproduction: From the end of May through June females form nursing colonies (six to 900 individuals) where they give birth to from one to three young (usually two). The naked young are born with eyes and ears closed. The eyes open in one day, and by the fifth day of life the dorsum is covered with gray juvenile fur. The young are left in a roosting area while the female forages. At three weeks of age they begin to fly. After the young are reared the males and females associate at the nursery colonies or other roosts.
Habits: Evening bats inhabit deciduous forests, roosting in hollow trees and building. This at flies both high or close to the ground in a slow, but steady, flight pattern. Foraging usually begins about dusk.
Food: Nocturnal flying insects, captured close to water, appear to constitute the basic food of the evening bat, but its food habits are poorly known.
Remarks: Owls and hawks are known to prey upon the evening bat, as well as raccoons and snakes. Maximum life span for this bat is at least five years, and most likely longer.