User:AidanBio4155/Little broad-nosed bat

Behaviour
Like most bats the little broad-nosed bat is nocturnal and begins being active soon after sunset. They rely on good eyesight and echolocation to find their prey.

Diet and foraging
The little broad-nosed bat is an insectivore which feed and drink while in flight. They forage for prey close to tree tops, over water, open grassland and other open habitat. They are characteristically fast fliers which make abrupt darts and turns to catch prey. They eat a lot of beetles, bugs and ants. They also consume moths, termites, cockroaches, katydids, crickets, flies and lacewings. They drink while in flight and known to be feisty, they have been observed preying on moths their own size.

Roost habits
Little broad-nosed bats are known to roost in hollows, usually in trees but they have also been found in fence posts, and in the space under metal caps of telegraph poles. They will also roost in disused buildings; 20 individuals have been found roosting in one area. It is thought that Scotorepens greyii has some kind of seasonal migration or seasonal change in foraging behaviour due to extreme differences in sample numbers done at different times of the year.

Reproduction
Scotorepens greyii has different mating behaviour depending on where the bats are located. It is thought that in more arid areas mating begins before winter in April and they give birth in October while in more temperate areas they are known to mate during winter and give birth in late spring or summer. They frequently give birth to twins and the young bats are capable for foraging within one to two months.

NEW ADDITION: Torpor
Despite its small size, the little broad-nosed bat is able to survive the extreme summer temperatures in its arid Australian environment by utilizing torpor and roost selection to conserve energy. Torpor helps the bats retain body water and reduces heat production from metabolic reactions. S. greyii minimizes energy expenditure using passive rewarming from their lethargic state. Roosting in poorly insulated dead tree roosts allows solar radiation to rouse them instead of physical activity. Most endotherms perform thermoregulation, an energetically demanding process where an organism uses metabolic processes along with physiological changes to control body temperature. Little broad-nosed bats are able to alternate between thermoregulation and thermoconformation, a process where body temperature fluctuates with ambient temperature, to save energy and delay hyperthermia.