Cluster Bat
Myotis sodalis Miller & G. M. Allen, 1928

Taxonomy

Description

Diagnostic characters

Ecological class

Trogloxene

Realm

Terrestrial

Distribution

Range

Known from 60 counties across nine states.

Continent

North America

Country

United States

States and provinces

Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia

Counties

Alabama

Jackson, Marshall, Morgan, Shelby

Arkansas

Baxter, Benton, Garland, Independence, Madison, Newton, Searcy, Stone, Washington

Florida

Jackson

Georgia

Chattooga, Dade

Illinois

Alexander, Hardin, Jackson, Monroe, Pope

Kentucky

Adair, Barren, Breckinridge, Caldwell, Carter, Christian, Edmonson, Elliott, Estill, Hardin, Hart, Jackson, Jessamine, Lee, Letcher, Livingston, Meade, Menifee, Powell, Pulaski, Rockcastle, Taylor, Trigg, Warren, Wayne, Whitley

Pennsylvania

Armstrong, Blair, Centre, Luzerne, Mifflin, Somerset

Tennessee

Blount, Campbell, Fentress, Montgomery, Van Buren, White

Virginia

Lee

Conservation and management

IUCN Red List

NT Near Threatened

Assessed in 2016.

NatureServe

G2 Imperiled

National ranks

United States

N2 Imperiled

Subnational ranks

Tennessee

S1 Critically Imperiled

Arkansas

S1 Critically Imperiled

Michigan

S1 Critically Imperiled

Alabama

S2 Imperiled

West Virginia

S1 Critically Imperiled

Vermont

S1 Critically Imperiled

Missouri

S1 Critically Imperiled

NJ

S1 Critically Imperiled

Ohio

S1 Critically Imperiled

Oklahoma

S1 Critically Imperiled

Virginia

S1 Critically Imperiled

Maryland

S1 Critically Imperiled

Indiana

S1 Critically Imperiled

Kentucky

S1 Critically Imperiled

Georgia

S1 Critically Imperiled

Iowa

S1 Critically Imperiled

Illinois

S1 Critically Imperiled

Connecticut

SHN (non-breeding)

Mississippi

S1B Critically Imperiled (breeding)

Pennsylvania

S1 Critically Imperiled

South Carolina

SU Unrankable

Massachusetts

SH Possibly Extirpated

New York

S1 Critically Imperiled

North Carolina

S1 Critically Imperiled

State and federal status

Endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act listed 1967

References

• Bailey, V. 1933. Cave Life of Kentucky. US Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Biological Survey, Washington, DC, USA. 256 pp.
• 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
• Beck, B.F. 1980. An Introduction to Caves and Cave Exploring in Georgia. Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. 43 pp.
• 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.
• Collins, J. & Sanders, C. 2016. A summary of bat-friendly gates and applications in Pennsylvania. In: Butchkoski, C.M., Reeder, D.M., Turner, G.G. & Whidden, H.P. (eds), Conservation and Ecology of Pennsylvania's Bats, pp. 201–208. The Pennsylvania Academy of Science, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Dusi, J.L. 1976. Mammals. In: Boshung, H. (ed), Endangered and threatened plants and animals of Alabama. Alabama Museum of Natural History Bulletin 2, pp. 88–92. Alabama Museum of Natural History, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
• Franz, R., Bauer, J. & Morris, T. 1994. Review of biologically significant caves and their faunas in Florida and south Georgia. Brimleyana 20: 1–109. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/229726.
• Giovannoli, L. 1933. Invertebrate life of Mammoth and other neighboring caves. In: Bailey, V. (ed), Cave Life of Kentucky, pp. 600–623.
• Godwin, J.C. 2000. Reassessment of the historical and search for new localities of the Tennessee cave salamander (Gyrinophilus palleucus) in Alabama. Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Montgomery, Alabama, USA. 15 pp.
• Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1979. Caves and associated fauna of Eastern Kentucky, Volume 3. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 130 pp.
• Harker, D.F., Jr. & Barr, T.C., Jr. 1980. Caves and associated fauna of the Western Kentucky coal field, Volume 2. Kentucky Nature Preserves Commission, Frankfurt, Kentucky, USA. 114 pp.
• Hart, J.A. & Brenner, F.J. 2016. The history of bat research in Pennsylvania. In: Butchkoski, C.M., Reeder, D.M., Turner, G.G. & Whidden, H.P. (eds), Conservation and Ecology of Pennsylvania's Bats, pp. 49–61. The Pennsylvania Academy of Science, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Hobbs, III., H.H. 1985. A description of Bat Cave and the Saltpetre-Moon Cave system, Carter County, Kentucky. In: Hacker, C., Vore, D. & Vore, D. (eds), 1985 NSS Convention Guidebook no. 25: The Caves of South Eastern Kentucky, pp. 28–34. Ohio Valley Region, National Speleological Society.
• Hudson, M.K. 2017. Indiana Myotis Myotis sodalis (Miller and Allen). In: Shelton-Nix, E. (ed), Alabama Wildlife, Volume 5, pp. 334–335. The University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA.
• Humphrey, S.R. 1992. Indiana Bat Myotis sodalis. In: Humphrey, S.R. (ed), Rare and Endangered Biota of Florida. Volume I. Mammals, pp. 54–62. University Press of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
• Jandebeur, T.S. 1999. Caves and springs of north Alabama in social context. Journal of the Alabama Academy of Science 70: 108–122.
• Johnson, J.S., Scafini, M.R., Sewall, B.J. & Turner, G.G. 2016. Hibernating bat species in Pennsylvania use colder winter habitats following the arrival of white-nose syndrome. In: Butchkoski, C.M., Reeder, D.M., Turner, G.G. & Whidden, H.P. (eds), Conservation and Ecology of Pennsylvania's Bats, pp. 181–199. The Pennsylvania Academy of Science, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Johnson, J.S., Sharp, N.W., Monarchino, M.N., Lilley, T.M. & Edelman, A.J. 2021. No sign of infection in free-ranging Myotis austroriparius hibernating in the presence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in Alabama. Southeastern Naturalist 20: 20–28. doi:10.1656/058.020.0102
• Lamb, J. & Wyckoff, G. 2010. White-nose syndrome monitoring and response report for Tennessee. Tennessee Bat Working Group. 24 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. 2005. A biological inventory of caves of the Cumberland Plateau. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 156 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2005. Inventory of the subterranean fauna of Tims Ford State Park, Franklin County, Tennessee. Tennesee Natural Heritage Program, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 28 pp.
• Lewis, J.J. & Lewis, S.L. 2007. A biological reconnaissance of selected caves in the Highland Rim area of central Tennessee. Tennessee Chapter Cave Program, The Nature Conservancy, Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 42 pp.
• 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.
• McGregor, S.W., Rheams, K.F., O'Neil, P.E., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1994. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. 226 pp.
• McGregor, S.W., O'Neil, P.E., Rheams, K.F., Moser, P.H. & Blackwood, R. 1997. Biological, geological, and hydrological investigations in Bobcat, Matthews, and Shelta caves and other selected caves in north Alabama. Geological Survey of Alabama Bulletin 166: 1–198.
• McLaren, S.B. & Wible, J.R. 2016. Pennsylvania bats preserved as museum specimens: a storehouse of information. In: Butchkoski, C.M., Reeder, D.M., Turner, G.G. & Whidden, H.P. (eds), Conservation and Ecology of Pennsylvania's Bats, pp. 63–74. The Pennsylvania Academy of Science, East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, USA.
• Nolfi, D.C. 2009. Review and assessment of known cavernicoles and rare epigean biology of karst and caves, Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Proceedings of the 15th International Congress of Speleology, Kerrville, Texas, USA, Volume 3: 1323–1328.
• Peck, S.B. 1973. A systematic revision and the evolutionary biology of the Ptomaphagus (Adelops) beetles of North America (Coleoptera; Leiodidae; Catopinae), with emphasis on cave-inhabiting species. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 145: 29–162. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/4336298.
• Poulson, T.L. 1961. Cave adaptation in amblyopsid cavefishes. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA. 185 pp. doi:10.7302/9847
• Trumbore, L.E., Reynolds, R.J., Thomas, S.C., Orndorff, W., Cramphorn, B., Gladstone, N.S., Harden, C.W., Lewis, J.J., Milne, M.A., Ober, K.A., Shear, W.A., Stephen, C.D.R. & Zigler, K.S. 2024. Cave biodiversity of Cumberland Gap National Historical Park. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies 86: 13–24. doi:10.4311/2022LSC0116
• Tuttle, M.D. 1977. Gating as a means of protecting cave dwelling bats. 1976 National Cave Management Symposium Proceedings: 77–82.
• Wallace, R.L. 1984. Biological survey report of Great Smoky Mountains National Park caves. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. 33 pp.
• Wallace, R.L. 1990. Biological survey report of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park caves. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, U.S. National Park Service, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, USA. 34 pp.
• Webb, D.W., Taylor, S.J. & Krejca, J.K. 1993. The biological resources of Illinois caves and other subterranean environments. Illinois Natural History Survey, Champaign, Illinois, USA. 143 pp.
• 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

Data sources and funding are listed in the Acknowledgments.

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