Great evening bat

The great evening bat (Ia io) is the largest bat in the vesper bat family (Vespertilionidae) and the only living species in the genus Ia. It is common to Eastern and Southeastern Asia (China, India, Laos, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam),[1] mainly living in areas with limestone caves at altitudes of 400–1,700 metres (0.25–1.06 mi).[6] Their roost sites have been found both near the cave entrances and up to 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) within the cave systems.[7]

Great evening bat

Near Threatened  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Chiroptera
Family: Vespertilionidae
Genus: Ia
Species:
I. io
Binomial name
Ia io
Thomas, 1902[2]
Subspecies
  • I. i. io Thomas, 1902
  • I. i. peninsulata Soisook et al., 2017[3]
Geographic range
Synonyms[4][5]
  • Ia longimana Pen, 1962
  • Parascotomanes beaulieui Bourret, 1942

Description

The great evening bat reaches a length of 90 to 105 millimetres (3.5–4.1 in). It is colored brown on the top and grayish on the bottom.[8] Average wingspan is .51 m (20 in) and it typically weighs 58 g (2.0 oz).[9]

Not much is known about its habits and behavior. The bat usually lives in small groups. Its food consists of insects, as with most vesper bats. The great evening bat also sometimes feeds on small birds.[9] The bat leaves its sleeping place already in the late afternoon for the search of food. During the winter months it may migrate to warmer regions.

Status

The IUCN lists its conservation status as near-threatened.[1] One of the threats to its survival in South Asia is human influence by habitat destruction; many caves have been turned into attractions. They have also been disturbed by farmers collecting their excrement. Also the excessive use of insecticides poses a threat to the great evening bats.[6]

Scientific name

At four letters, Ia io is tied with Yi qi for the shortest existing (and shortest possible) scientific name of any animal under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature,[10] and is one of very few scientific names composed solely of vowels.[11]

References
  1. Jiang, T.L. & Feng, J. (2020). "Ia io". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2020: e.T10755A21993508. Retrieved 10 July 2020.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  2. Thomas, Oldfield (1902). "On Two new Mammals from China". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 7. 10 (56): 164–166. doi:10.1080/00222930208678653.
  3. Soisook, Pipat; Sribuarod, Kriangsak; Karapan, Sunate; Safoowong, Mongkol; Billasoy, Sawwalak; Thong, Vu Dinh; Chang, Yang; Gong, Lixin; Lin, Aiqing; Sztencel-Jabłonka, Anna; Bogdanowicz, Wiesław; Bates, Paul J. J. (2017). "The first record of Ia io Thomas, 1902 (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Sundaic Subregion, with a description of a new subspecies from peninsular Thailand". Zootaxa. 4344 (3): 573–588. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4344.3.8.
  4. Topál, Gy. (1970). "The First Record of Ia io Thomas, 1902 in Vietnam and India, and Some Remarks on the Taxonomic Position of Parascotomanes beaulieui Bourret, 1942, Ia longimana Pen, 1962, and the Genus Ia Thomas, 1902 (Chiroptera: Verspertilionidae)" (PDF). Opuscula Zoologica (Budapest). 10 (2): 341–347.
  5. Csorba, Gábor (1998). "The Distribution of the Great Evening Bat Ia io in the Inodmalayan Region" (PDF). Myotis. 36: 197–201.
  6. "Great Evening Bat". China Species Information Service (CSIS). Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Archived from the original on 2006-05-15. Retrieved 2006-05-10.
  7. C.M. Francis; A. Guillén; M.F. Robinson. "Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 status report – Order Chiroptera" (PDF). Wildlife Conservation Society. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-01-07. Retrieved 2006-05-10.
  8. Nowak, Ronald M. (1999). Walker's Mammals of the World. Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0-8018-5789-9.
  9. Thabah, Adora; Li, Gang; Wang, Yinan; Liang, Bing; Hu, Kailiang; Zhang, Shuyi; Jones, Gareth (2007). "Diet, Echolocation Calls, and Phylogenetic Affinities of the Great Evening Bat (Ia io; Vespertilionidae): Another Carnivorous Bat". Journal of Mammalogy. 88 (3): 728–735. doi:10.1644/06-MAMM-A-167R1.1.
  10. "International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Chapter 4, Article 11.8". code.iczn.org. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
  11. Yanega, Doug. "Curious Scientific Names". Archived from the original on 20 June 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
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