Painted Bat or Kerivoula Picta

The ‘Painted Bat’ is seen in some of the Asian countries including India. Nocturnal in nature, which means active in the night time and roosts during the day, the ‘Painted Bat’ is a species of Vesper bat (Evening Bats). It hides inside the folds of banana leaves during daytime. At night they appear like large colorful moths. It belongs to the Vespertilionidae family of Chiroptera order under the Mammalia class. The biological nomenclature identifies this species by the name Kerivoula Picta.

Painted Bat has scarlet fur and black and orange wings. This natural camouflage helps it to merge with the surroundings, especially amidst the similar coloured flowers (protective coloration).

It roosts inside hollow tree trunks, foliages, huts and buildings. It feeds on insects. An adult male has an average body length varying between 4 centimetres and 4.3 centimetres and usually weighs about 6 grams to 8 grams.

The Painted Bat belongs to the Lower risk or ‘Least Concern’ category in the red list of threatened species prepared by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). It is distributed in the Asian countries like India to southern China and to the south of Indonesia.

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