Miniopterus

A genus of bats best known as the bent-wing or long-fingered bats, and they really live up to that name. These are small insect-eating bats with compact, fluffy bodies and surprisingly long, narrow wings, often more than twice as long as their head and body combined. The “bent-wing” part comes from their extra-long third finger: when they fold their wings, that finger folds back on itself, giving the wing a visible kink and letting them pack a lot of wing into a tiny body. Their heads are short and rounded with big eyes and neat ears, and their skulls are tall and bulbous compared with many other bats, a shape they share with some of their closest bat relatives.

These bats are built for speed and distance. The long, slim wings act like high-performance gliders, allowing many Miniopterus species to fly fast in open air and, in some cases, migrate long distances between summer and winter roosts or between feeding and breeding areas. As a group, they are astonishingly widespread, found from southern Europe through Africa and Madagascar, across much of Asia, and into Australia and Pacific islands. In the air, they chase moths, beetles and other flying insects, helping keep night-time bug numbers in check over forests, farmland and even around towns. Their fast, twisting flight and high-pitched calls (too high for human ears) make them some of the most efficient little pest-control agents you’ll never notice.

On the ground—or rather, on the cave ceiling—Miniopterus bats are serious cave specialists. Most species roost in caves, mines or tunnels, and many gather in huge colonies where tens of thousands of bats can pack the roof like a living, rustling blanket. Females form special “maternity” roosts in a few key caves, where they give birth and raise a single pup each year, leaving the young clumped together while they go out to feed.