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Cave Biology Data Portal
Subterranean biodiversity of North America and around the globe
AnimaliaChordataMammaliaChiropteraVespertilionidaeLasiurus

Eastern Red Bat
Lasiurus borealis (Müller, 1776)

Taxonomy

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Chordata
Class Mammalia
Order Chiroptera
Family Vespertilionidae
Genus Lasiurus
Species Lasiurus borealis (Müller, 1776)

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class
Trogloxene
Realm
Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from eight counties across four states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee

Counties

Arkansas
Garland, Stone
Georgia
Dade, Polk
Kentucky
Carter, Edmonson
Tennessee
Blount, Sevier

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

LC Least Concern

EXEWCRENVUNTLC▲

Assessed in 2016.

NatureServe

G3 Vulnerable

G1G2G3▲G4G5

National ranks

Canada
N4B Apparently Secure (breeding), NUM (migrant)
United States
N5 Secure

Subnational ranks

Ontario
S3 Vulnerable
Quebec
S1B Critically Imperiled (breeding)
Saskatchewan
S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)
Alberta
S3B Vulnerable (breeding), SNRM (migrant)
Manitoba
S3B Vulnerable (breeding)
New Brunswick
SUB (breeding), S2M Imperiled (migrant)
Nova Scotia
SUB (breeding), S1M Critically Imperiled (migrant)
British Columbia
SU Unrankable
Georgia
S5 Secure
Oklahoma
SNR Unranked
North Dakota
SNR Unranked
Florida
SNR Unranked
New Jersey
S3 Vulnerable
New Mexico
S3N Vulnerable (non-breeding)
New Hampshire
S3B Vulnerable (breeding)
Massachusetts
S3 Vulnerable
Rhode Island
SNR Unranked
Colorado
S2B Imperiled (breeding)
Vermont
S4B Apparently Secure (breeding)
Ohio
SNR Unranked
Kansas
S5B Secure (breeding)
Tennessee
S5 Secure
Minnesota
SNR Unranked
South Carolina
S3 Vulnerable
Michigan
S5 Secure
North Carolina
S5 Secure
Mississippi
S4 Apparently Secure
Arizona
SNR Unranked
Maine
SU Unrankable
Virginia
S4 Apparently Secure
Louisiana
S4 Apparently Secure
Pennsylvania
S4 Apparently Secure
Delaware
S5 Secure
Connecticut
S3B Vulnerable (breeding)
Texas
S4 Apparently Secure
Montana
S3B Vulnerable (breeding)
Nebraska
S3 Vulnerable
Indiana
S3 Vulnerable
Wyoming
S3B Vulnerable (breeding)
West Virginia
S3 Vulnerable
Wisconsin
S3 Vulnerable
Kentucky
S5 Secure
South Dakota
S5 Secure
District of Columbia
S4 Apparently Secure
Illinois
S5 Secure
New York
S3B Vulnerable (breeding)
Iowa
S4 Apparently Secure
Missouri
S4 Apparently Secure
Maryland
S3 Vulnerable
Arkansas
S5 Secure
Alabama
S5 Secure

State and federal status

Not listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act

References

  • Barr, T.C., Jr. & Kuehne, R.A. 1971. Ecological studies in the Mammoth Cave system of Kentucky. II. The Ecosystem. Annales de Speleologie 26: 47–96. doi:10.5038/1827-806X.3.1.10
  • Cassidy, J.J., O'Hagan, G.G., Sanders, J.S. & Harvey, M.J. 1979. Swarming of bats at two southern Ozark caves. Proceedings of the Tennessee Academy of Science 54: 73.
  • Heath, D.R., Saugey, D.A. & Heidt, G.A. 1986. Abandoned mine fauna of the Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas: vertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 40: 33–36.
  • Linzey, D.W. 1995. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park - 1995 update. Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society 111: 1–81.
  • Linzey, D.W. 2016. Mammals of Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 2016 revision. Southeastern Naturalist 15, Monograph 8: 1–93.
  • McDaniel, V.R. & Gardner, J.E. 1977. Cave fauna of Arkansas: vertebrate taxa. Journal of the Arkansas Academy of Science 31: 68–71. https://scholarworks.uark.edu/jaas/vol31/iss1/22.
  • Zigler, K.S., Niemiller, M.L., Stephen, C.D.R., Ayala, B.N., Milne, M.A., Gladstone, N.S., Engel, A.S., Jensen, J.B., Camp, C.D., Ozier, J.C. & Cressler, A. 2020. Biodiversity from caves and other subterranean habitats of Georgia, USA. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 82: 125–167. doi:10.4311/2019LSC0125

How to cite this account

Lasiurus borealis (Müller, 1776). Cave Biology Data Portal, account SP-2554. https://cavebiology.org/species/lasiurus-borealis/ (accessed 7 September 2026).

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

Spotted something wrong on this page? Report a correction. Accounts are compiled from many sources and corrections from people who know the group are the most useful email we get.

Cave Biology Data Portal

Species accounts, distributions, and conservation status for the subterranean fauna of North America and around the globe, with resources for the cave and karst research community.

Text and data CC BY 4.0. Images all rights reserved unless stated.

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