Common pipistrelle
Pipistrellus pipistrellus
Anatoly Ozernoy · Talgar
Key facts in one look
- Diet
- Insectivore: small flies, mosquitoes, midges
- Status in Georgia
- Native; the most often recorded bat
- Size
- Body 3.5–4.5 cm, weight 3–8 g
- Habitat
- Woodland edge, farmland, water, settlements
- Family
- Vespertilionidae
- Conservation
- LC / LC
The common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus) is the most often recorded bat in Georgia: the country's bat data hold 289 records of it, more than of any other species. It is a tiny animal, with a body of 3.5–4.5 cm and a weight of 3–8 g. It has been found from Batumi and Zugdidi to Lagodekhi, in Tbilisi, Kutaisi and Bakuriani too. By day it often hides in crevices of buildings, behind boards and under roof tiles, so it lives right next to people. It looks almost exactly like the soprano pipistrelle, and the two are told apart mainly by their echolocation calls. If one flies into your home, do not grab it with bare hands: open the window and give it time to leave.
Identification
Common pipistrelle: how to identify it
A very small bat, medium to dark brown, usually with a dark face and a dark patch around the eyes. Its flight is fast and twisting. Several almost identical pipistrelles live in Georgia, so naming the species by looks alone is hard.
Size: body 3.5–4.5 cm, forearm 30–35 mm, wingspan 20–23.5 cm, weight 3–8 g, often about 5 g. Nathusius' pipistrelle is slightly larger, with a forearm of 32–38 mm and a weight of 6–16 g. The ranges overlap, so the bat has to be measured in the hand, and that is a job for specialists.
It looks almost exactly like the soprano pipistrelle. The soprano has a paler, pinkish face, while the common pipistrelle's face is dark. The two were only separated in the 1990s, so older sources treat them as one species.
The most reliable clue is a sound people cannot hear. The common pipistrelle's echolocation call is loudest at about 45 kHz, the soprano's at about 55 kHz and Nathusius' at about 38 kHz. This is measured with a bat detector. Do not try to catch a bat to check.
Colour
The back is medium to dark brown, and the tone varies from bat to bat. The face and the area around the eyes are usually dark. The ears and wing membranes are dark, and the tail membrane has no fur.
Swatches are illustrative. Do not identify a species by colour alone.
The common pipistrelle lives almost anywhere with trees and insects: woodland edges, tree lines, farmland, water and settlements, large cities included. It hunts along woodland edges and isolated lines of trees. Summer roosts are crevices on the outside of buildings, spaces under tiles and roof boards, cavity walls, tree holes and bat boxes. It spends the winter alone or in small groups in crevices of buildings and trees, rarely underground, more often in hard winters. With 289 records it is the most often recorded bat in Georgia. It has been found near Batumi, Kobuleti and in Khulo, near Zugdidi, Anaklia, Senaki, Kutaisi, Tkibuli and Tsageri, in Borjomi and Bakuriani, in Tbilisi, Mtskheta and near Rustavi, near Pasanauri and in the Gudamakari gorge, in Kvareli and Lagodekhi. It is also known from Abkhazia, near Bichvinta, Akhali Atoni and Gulripshi. Most records come from summer, especially July.
The common pipistrelle map combines public iNaturalist observations. Regions are taken from the records-by-region table, and the status column separates regions with enough records from regions with too few records. Record counts reflect observation effort rather than population density. Records are still too few: no region has enough records yet.
Data: Reptiles.ge + iNaturalist · Methodology
- Field observation
- Region with records
The common pipistrelle feeds on small flying insects, above all small flies, mosquitoes and aquatic midges. It also takes caddisflies, lacewings, mayflies and moths. A single bat can eat thousands of tiny insects in one night. It leaves the roost about 20 minutes after sunset and hunts 2–10 m above the ground, catching insects in flight.
The common pipistrelle is a resident bat: its summer and winter roosts are often less than 20 km apart. Long flights have also been recorded, up to 1150 km. It hibernates mostly in buildings, sometimes underground. Mating takes place in autumn, but fertilisation happens only after hibernation, because the female stores sperm. From July to September males defend mating territories and attract females with song flights. Females gather in maternity colonies of dozens to hundreds of bats. In June or early July each usually has one young, and some populations regularly have twins. The young can fly at about 4 weeks and hunt on their own at 6 weeks. The average lifespan is 3–5 years, and the oldest known age is 16 years.
Globally the common pipistrelle is Least Concern (LC, 2020), and its population is stable. In Georgia's 2021 national assessment it is also Least Concern (LC), with a stable population. Because many colonies live in buildings, it is threatened by renovation, sealed crevices and toxic timber treatment. In some countries the loss of hunting grounds to intensive farming has cut its numbers sharply.
Related guides
Continue with related pages
Yes, and it is recorded more often than any other bat. The country's bat data hold 289 records of it. It has been found in both west and east: near Batumi, Zugdidi and Kutaisi, in Bakuriani, Tbilisi, near Rustavi and in Lagodekhi. It lives in cities too and often spends the day in crevices of buildings.
By looks it is almost impossible. The soprano has a paler, pinkish face and the common pipistrelle a dark one, but this is not always visible. The most reliable difference is the echolocation call: the common pipistrelle is loudest at about 45 kHz, the soprano at about 55 kHz. This is measured with a bat detector, and there is no need to catch the bat.
It does not attack you, but do not touch it with bare hands. A bat bite can be so small that you may not notice it, and direct contact with a bat is treated as a serious rabies risk. After a bite or scratch, wash the spot with soap and water for at least 15 minutes and see a doctor. In an emergency, call 112.
Stay calm and take children and pets out of the room. Close the doors to other rooms, open the windows wide, pull back the curtains and switch off the light. Then leave and give it time: a bat usually finds the way out on its own. Do not try to catch a bat in flight.
Small flying insects: small flies, mosquitoes, aquatic midges, and also moths. A single bat can eat thousands of insects in one night. It hunts at dusk, 2–10 m above the ground, along woodland edges and lines of trees.
It is not threatened. Globally it is Least Concern (LC, 2020), and Georgia's 2021 national assessment also lists it as Least Concern (LC), with a stable population. The main threat is renovation and the sealing of crevices where colonies live. If bats live in your house, do not try to poison them or shut them in.
References
What this profile is based on
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
Prepared by the Reptiles.ge editorial team from the sources listed here.
