O’SHEA, CRYAN & BOGAN: UNITED STATES BAT SPECIES OF CONCERN 
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Table 3. Summary of habitat types of known importance to species of concern. See species accounts for 
greater detail and literature citations. 
Typical General 
Habitat 
Species 
Habitats of Seemingly Greatest Importance for the Species 
Tropical Forest 
Samoan flying 
fox 
Mature primary rain forest in Samoa Islands 
Tropical Forest 
Red fruit bat 
Lower elevation tabonuco (Dacryodes excelsa ) rain forest (El Yunque 
National Forest, Puerto Rico), remnant mixed evergreen-deciduous forest on 
Vieques Island (Puerto Rico). Local and patchy, nowhere abundant. 
Eastern U.S. 
Forests 
Rafmesque’s 
big-eared bat 
Bottomland hardwood forests with suitable roosts 
Southeastern 
myotis 
Bottomland hardwood forests with suitable roosts throughout the distribution, 
karst areas at the southern and northern limits 
Eastern small¬ 
footed myotis 
Upland forests, especially in mountainous terrain near ground-level roosts in 
talus-like areas or caves 
Southwestern Arid 
Lowlands 
Mexican long- 
tongued bat 
Various vegetation zones (especially woodlands) within the distribution of 
agaves and columnar cacti, often near riparian zones. Seasonal. 
Underwood’s 
bonneted bat 
Sonoran Desert and mesquite-grassland in extreme southern Arizona. Other 
habitats used in countries south of the U.S. 
California leaf- 
nosed bat 
Desert scrub, especially desert washes near suitable roosting habitat in old 
mines and caves 
Western Uplands 
with Cliffs and 
Canyons 
Spotted bat 
Multiple broad habitat types from desert to montane, but patchily distributed, 
probably in relation to availability of roosting habitat in crevices in high cliffs 
Greater bonnet¬ 
ed bat 
Multiple broad habitat types from desert to montane, but patchily distributed, 
probably in relation to availability of roosting habitat in crevices in high cliffs 
Big free-tailed 
bat 
Multiple broad habitat types from desert to montane, but patchily distributed, 
probably in relation to availability of roosting habitat in crevices in high cliffs 
Western Coniferous 
Forests and Wood¬ 
lands 
Western small¬ 
footed myotis 
Primarily mid-elevation woodlands and forests 
Long-eared 
myotis 
Primarily mid-elevation woodlands and forests, especially relatively dry 
ponderosa pine and pinon-juniper woodland 
Fringed myotis 
Ponderosa pine forest, usually much lower relative abundance in other habitats 
Long-legged 
myotis 
Multiple broad habitats from near sea level to montane, often most abundant 
in inland forests at higher elevations in ponderosa pine forests and above. 
Western Riparian 
Habitats 
Yuma myotis 
Multiple broad habitats, highest in relative abundance near plentiful 
permanent water. Ranks high in relative abundance in surveys in parts of California, 
lower elsewhere. 
Arizona myotis 
Multiple broad habitat types from desert to montane, usually near abundant 
permanent water. 
Other 
Townsend’s 
big-eared bat 
Multiple broad habitat types from desert to montane, but patchily distributed, 
probably in relation to availability of old mines and caves as roosting habitat. 
Cave myotis 
Grasslands dissected by small canyons and riparian woodlands in lower 
western Great Plains and in deserts at lower, warmer elevations in the southwestern 
U.S., within flight distance to permanent water. Nowhere high in abundance except 
near roosts. 
Allen’s big- 
eared bat 
Multiple broad habitat types from desert to montane, especially middle-eleva¬ 
tion forests and woodlands. Patchily distributed but not in clear association with 
specific roost types and never in abundance. Perhaps local abundance may vary in 
relation to availability of roosting habitat in crevices in high cliffs, but also roosts 
under tree bark of snags and in caves and tunnels. 
