FAMILY MOLOSSIDAE
Tadarida insignis
Bats under this family are also known as the free-tailed bats. The family Molossidae is the fourth largest bat family and like the Vespertilionidae, they can be found in every continent of the world except Antarctica. Bats in this family are generally robust and have strong flying forms that allow them to fly 60 miles per hour and at very high altitudes reaching over 10,000 feet which no other bat family can fly at.
Tadarida insignia is the only species of the Molossidae family that can be found in Kyoto and Shiga.
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Tadarida insignis
Family: Molossidae
Scientific name: Tadarida insignis
Common name: Oriental free-tailed bat
IUCN status: Data Deficient (DD)
MSJ Red list status: VU
General morphology: The head is flat and the muzzle is broad; ears are very large and rounded; wings are narrow; pelage color is blackish brown (Yoshiyuki, 1989).
Diet: Feeds mainly on Lepidoptera (Hatase, 2005)
Habitat: Roosts have been recorded from the crevices of huge rocks (Funakoshi et al., 1999).
Echolocation calls: Long QCF call structure; FMaxE=14.2 kHz (Miyazaki Prefecture) (Funakoshi, 2010)
References:
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Yoshiyuki, M. (1989). A systematic study of the Japanese Chiroptera. 242pp. National Science Museum: Tokyo.
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Funakoshi, K., Maeda, F., Sato, M., & Ono, K. (1999). Roost selection, population dynamics and activities of the Oriental free-tailed bat, Tadarida insignis on the islet of Biroujima, Miyazaki Prefecture. Mammarian Science, 39, 23-33.
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Hatase, J. (2005). Exhibition and conservation of Oriental free-tailed bat. Mammalian Science, 45, 69-72.
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Funakoshi, K. (2010). Acoustic identification of thirteen insectivorous bat species from the Kyushu District, Japan. Mammalian Science, 50(2), 165-175.