Phyllostomidae, Gray, 1825

Elliott, William R., Reddell, James R., Rudolph, D. Craig, Graening, G. O., Briggs, Thomas S., Ubick, Darrell, Aalbu, Rolf L., Krejca, Jean & Taylor, Steven J., 2017, The Cave Fauna of California, Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences 64, pp. 1-311 : 45

Family Phyllostomidae , Leaf-nosed bats

The California leaf-nosed bat, Macrotus californicus , was reported in 11 mines in the Mojave Desert and several caves in southern California. The largest colonies were 500 in a mine in Imperial County in 1924 ( U.S. Geological Survey 2016b), 300 in caves in Coachella Valley, Riverside County, Mojave Desert , in 1908 ( Grinnell 1918); 150 in an unnamed mine, and 30 in an unnamed cave, both in Imperial County in 1918 (Howel 1920). The most recent report was 200 seen in a mine in San Bernardino County in 1983. This is the only leaf-nosed bat in the U.S. with large ears. They forage by gleaning larger insects off the ground and other surfaces. They are susceptible to human disturbance, which can be especially detrimental to the species during summer months, when these bats are rearing young. Human disturbance of caves in which they roost is a major threat. Because they often roost in abandoned mines, reclamation and re-working of old mines can severely impact populations. Because California leaf-nosed bats do not hibernate or migrate, the relatively warm mine shafts are critical for its survival in the northern portions of its range ( Wikipedia 2016a).