- Scientific Name
- Craseonycteris thonglongyai
- Family
- Craseonycteridae
- Global Conservation Status (IUCN)
- Near Threatened
- Region
- Southeast Asia
- Diet
- Insectivore
Data Sheet
Diet: Bumblebee bats capture their prey in the air using their mouth, feeding on small arthropods like beetles, flies, and even spiders.
Fun Fact: With a body length of only about one inch and weighing less than 2 grams, the bumblebee bat is one of the smallest species of mammal.
Appearance: In addition to their small size, bumblebee bats also have distinctive pig-like noses (hence their other common name Kitti’s Hog-nosed Bat). They are generally brown to brownish-red in color.
Habitat: Bumblebee bats have a very limited geographic range and are found only among limestone caves along the Thailand-Myanmar border. They have very small home ranges, ranging only about one kilometer from their roost to hunt.
Echolocation: These bats can produce extremely fast echolocation calls as they close in on prey, calling as much as 220 times per second. Their echolocation calls usually range between 70 – 80 kHz, with Thai populations having significantly higher frequency calls than bats in Myanmar.
Conservation Concerns: With few known populations, there is limited knowledge on the status of the bumblebee bat. Roost disturbance is the main threat to this bat, which comes in many forms including tourism, fertilizer collection, and limestone mining.
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