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Soprano Pipistrelle | Pipistrellus pygmaeus
Kleine dwergvleermuis | Murciélago De Cabrera
The Soprano Pipistrelle is one of the smallest bats in Europe: forearm 27.7 to 32.8 mm, weight about 4 to 7.5 grams. For a long time it was regarded as part of the Common Pipistrelle. In 1993 Jones and Van Parijs described two groups of pipistrelles with different peak echolocation frequencies, the '45 kHz type' and the '55 kHz type'; in 1997 Barratt et al. showed with DNA that these are two species, and in 1999 Jones and Barratt proposed neotypes to fix both names. The 55 kHz type received the name Pipistrellus pygmaeus, which Leach had given in 1825 to a pipistrelle from Spitchwick near Dartmoor in Devon.
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Tracks
Summer roosts are in buildings, behind wall cladding, under roofs and in large cavities under roofs or ceilings, and also in hollow trees and, especially in farmland, in bat boxes. Maternity colonies number up to a few hundred, in some cases several thousand animals, and are on average slightly larger than those of the Common Pipistrelle; they may be shared with Common, Nathusius's and Kuhl's Pipistrelles and with Brandt's Bat. Maternity colonies are noisy. Winter roosts are poorly known: probably mainly tree holes, sometimes rock crevices, walls, buildings and bat boxes; in Romania hibernating animals have been found in caves. Social calls consist of series of two to four, usually three, pulses.
Identification
A very small bat with fur slightly darker above than below, in pale brown shades from yellowish to sandy brown. Fur and skin are paler than in the Common Pipistrelle, and the buccal glands and the skin around penis and vagina are yellowish to orange, where they are grey in the Common Pipistrelle. The snout is short and the forehead clearly domed; in the middle of the nose both sexes carry a heart-shaped swelling, which the handbook describes as fairly diagnostic. The ears are short and triangular, with a slender, curved, rounded tragus. The wings are short (wingspan 19 to 23 cm) and attach at the base of the toes. Wing venation is used to separate the European pipistrelles, but has proved reliable in only 89 per cent of cases. Search calls start frequency-modulated and end in a quasi-constant part, with a peak between 50 and 60 kHz, occasionally up to 65 kHz, and around 55 kHz on average; they are about as long as those of the Common Pipistrelle.
Similar species
The Common Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) is the species from which the Soprano was split; until the 1990s both were kept under one name, and according to the handbook part of the older chromosome data for the Common Pipistrelle probably refers to this species. Externally they are barely separable: the Soprano has paler fur and skin, yellow-orange rather than grey buccal glands and genitals, the heart-shaped swelling on the nose and a different wing venation. The most usable character is the call: the peak lies between 50 and 60 kHz in the Soprano (about 55 kHz on average) and between 42 and 51 kHz in the Common Pipistrelle (the '45 kHz type'). Around 50 kHz the two overlap, especially in cluttered surroundings, and a recording can then not be assigned with certainty. In central Europe the two species occasionally hybridise. The echolocation of Schreibers's Long-fingered Bat (Miniopterus schreibersii) is almost identical to that of the Soprano. Nathusius's Pipistrelle (P. nathusii) is larger, with longer wings, and calls at about 38 to 43 kHz. Crete holds the related P. creticus; according to genetic studies P. pygmaeus, P. creticus and the Libyan P. hanaki together form a group that is sister to the Common Pipistrelle.
Habitat
City centres and a range of other habitats: woodland, wetlands, rural areas, grassland, pasture and farmland. The species lives close to people, and according to a number of authors it is more closely tied to water, wetlands and built-up areas than the Common Pipistrelle, although this may vary with latitude. It hunts much over marshes and open water and has been recorded foraging more than 500 m from the shore over lakes and sea.
Where the animal is most at home, classified with EUNIS — the European standard for habitats.
Distribution
Most of Europe, from Ireland and the Iberian Peninsula east to Russia and the Caucasus, and on the large Mediterranean islands: the Balearics, Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily (subspecies P. p. pygmaeus). Cyprus holds P. p. cyprius, described by Benda in 2007; according to the handbook it is strongly distinct morphologically and fairly distinct genetically and may be a separate species. Because the species has only been recorded separately since the 1990s, its distribution is less well known than that of the Common Pipistrelle.
- Native
- dark = core range, pale = thinly spread
Way of life
Nocturnal. The Soprano Pipistrelle is one of the first European bats to emerge and sometimes hunts before sunset; activity peaks after sunset and, usually lower, before sunrise. The animals often fly the same route each night and visit the same hunting areas. Flight is slow, erratic and agile. The food consists of small midges and moths, also hymenopterans, caddisflies, beetles, bugs, aphids and lacewings, always caught in flight. Females form maternity colonies in April and May; in late May and early June mostly twins are born. The young are greyer than the reddish or brown adults, fly at three to four weeks and are independent at about six weeks. Mating falls between late July and October; young females are already sexually mature by then, males only in their second year. The species is not regarded as migratory, but probably moves short distances between summer and winter roosts; movements of up to 760 km have been reported. Hibernation usually lasts from November to March.
Where and when to look
A bat detector at 55 kHz makes the species audible; at 45 kHz the Common Pipistrelle sounds loudest. A detector with frequency display or a recording gives the peak frequency: a peak above 51 kHz, the upper end of the Common Pipistrelle, points to the Soprano, a peak below 50 kHz to the Common; around 50 kHz the identification remains uncertain. Marshes, ponds, lakes, river banks and parks with water are suitable places, from sunset onwards. A maternity colony in a building can be counted at emergence.
Conservation status
Least Concern (2016). The species is widespread and common in most habitats. As its main threats the handbook names direct persecution, disturbance and destruction of roosts, domestic animals (especially cats) and building renovation. Like all bats in the European Union, the Soprano Pipistrelle is listed in Annex IV of the Habitats Directive and is covered by the EUROBATS Agreement.
Scientific name
Pipistrellus pygmaeus | (Leach, 1825)
Leach described the species in 1825 as Vespertilio Pygmæus; because it was later moved to another genus, the author and year stand in brackets. Pipistrellus is formed from Italian pipistrello, 'bat', which goes back to Latin vespertilio, from vesper, 'evening'. pygmaeus is Latin for 'pygmy, dwarfish', from Greek pygmaios, from pygmē, 'fist' as a measure of length: Europe's smallest bat. The specimen the first description was based on came from United Kingdom, Devon.