O’SHEA, CRYAN & BOGAN: UNITED STATES BAT SPECIES OF CONCERN 
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Verde National Park in southwestern Colorado during su mm er varied with the amount of spring 
precipitation, averaging 27% in 180 females during a drought year and 68% in 122 females the fol¬ 
lowing year when spring precipitation and insect abundance were higher (O’Shea et al., 2011a; 
Snider, 2009). An earlier study at Mesa Verde National Park during 1989-1994 reported that at 
least 16 of 40 (40%) adult females taken over water were pregnant or lactating (Chung-Mac- 
Coubrey and Bogan, 2003). None of 64 adult females captured in subalpine habitats at 2,900 to 
3,500 meters in Colorado during 1993 and 1994 appeared reproductive (Storz and Williams, 1996), 
but non-reproductive females may select higher elevations than reproducing females (see above). 
In ponderosa pine forests of the eastern Cascades in Washington and Oregon, Baker and Lacki 
(2006) reported that 74% of 87 adult females captured over water were reproductive. Findley 
(1954) reported that all of 5 females taken near Jackson Hole, Wyoming were pregnant. 
In the Jemez Mountains of New Mexico, the proportion of adult females captured that were 
reproductive varied from 17% (n = 12) in a drought year to 52% (n = 25) in a year with more nor¬ 
mal precipitation (Bogan et al., 1998), whereas in the Mogollon Mountains of southwestern New 
Mexico and adjacent Arizona 65 of 106 females (61%) captured primarily over water during June 
and July in 1958 to 1963 were reproductive (C. Jones, 1964). Long-legged myotis (n = 249) cap¬ 
tured at a maternity colony at 2,850 meters in northern New Mexico during 1968, in contrast, were 
“nearly all” pregnant (Davis and Barbour, 1970:263). In ponderosa pine forests of northern Ari¬ 
zona, 55 of 182 females (30%) sampled over water were reproductive in 1993-1995 (Morrell et al., 
1999), and apparently five of 18 (28%) taken in June and early July in the Chiricahua Mountains 
of southeastern Arizona were reproductive (Cockrum and Ordway, 1959). Seven of 13 females 
(54%) taken in July in southeastern Montana were reproductive (Jones et al., 1973). Turner (1974) 
reported only one reproductive female among 18 (6%) examined in the Black Hills region of South 
Dakota, whereas Cryan (1997) reported that 14 of 23 females (61%) captured over water in the 
Black Hills during 1989-1996 were pregnant. Three of six females taken from late June to early 
August in northwestern South Dakota were reproductive (Andersen and Jones, 1971). None of four 
adult females captured during summer in west-central Nevada were reproductive (Kuenzi et al., 
1999), whereas one of five (20%) taken over water in Clark Canyon during June was reproductive 
(Deacon et al., 1964). The proportion reproductive for the cumulative total females taken at loca¬ 
tions away from maternity roosts over all U.S. locations and years was 42% (383 of 910 bats). 
Survival: We are unaware of any published literature with quantitative data on survival for 
this species. The maximum longevity reported for the long-legged myotis is 21 years (Tuttle and 
Stevenson, 1982). 
Mortality Factors: Mortality factors potentially influencing long-legged myotis populations 
are poorly known. Mortality from rabies occurs in this species (for example, Constantine, 1979; 
Mondul et al., 2003; O’Shea et al., 2011b), but a high prevalence of rabies-virus-neutralizing anti¬ 
bodies in bats sampled in Colorado (Bowen et al., 2013) suggests some degree of immune resist¬ 
ance to this virus. Twenty-four were found dead from rabies during September 2007 in Lane Coun¬ 
ty, Oregon (U.S. Geological Survey, 2015). The presence of alpha-coronavirus RNA was detected 
in 8% of a sample of 147 seemingly healthy individuals netted over water in Colorado, with detec¬ 
tions made in three consecutive years at one sampling area (indicating likely persistence of infec¬ 
tions within the population), but the significance of these viruses as possible mortality factors 
remains unknown (Osborne et al., 2011). Similarly, helminth, coccidial protozoan, and ectoparasite 
infections have been detected in this species, but impact of these infections on mortality (if any) 
has not been determined (Whitaker and Wilson, 1974; Rausch 1975; Duszynski et al., 1999; Ritzi 
et al., 2001; Seville and Graver, 2004). About 50 emaciated individuals were found dead from oth¬ 
erwise unknown causes in Lewis and Clark County, Montana (U.S. Geological Survey, 2015). 
Although relatively abundant in nearby forests, no long-legged myotis were recovered in 
