Histiotus alienus
Histiotus cadenai
Histiotus colombiae
Histiotus diaphanopterus
Histiotus humboldti
Histiotus laephotis
Histiotus macrotus
Histiotus magellanicus
Histiotus mochica
Histiotus montanus
Histiotus velatus
Histiotus (meaning "sail ears") is a genus of South American vesper bats[1] with species that include:[2]
In Paraguay, Histiotus bats have mainly been collected at human dwellings or around domestic animals, due to the significant increase in human activity in the Paraguayan Chaco over the last 20 years.[3]
Histiotus is found in the tropical and temperate zones in South America. Their natural habitat ranges from areas with rocky mountains, to woods in Paraguay, Peru, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.[4]
Histiotus are aerial feeders and use echolocation to catch prey. They can create echolocation calls dominated by frequencies below 20 kHz in order to catch prey. Histiotus diet consists of insects; H. montanus mainly eats butterflies and flies, H. macrotus eats flies, and H. velatus eat moths.[5]
Most of the species are colonial and some are considered individual. Individual systems are considered for bats that interact as one or less than ten bats.[4] Females of most temperate zone bats form maternity colonies during summer to communally raise pups. These colonies allow individuals to reduce heat loss by forming a cluster. This is called social thermoregulation. (For more on metabolism go to: Metabolism).[6]