Scotophilus is a genus of vespertilionid bats commonly called yellow bats. They are found in southern Asia and Africa.

Species

Scotophilus borbonicus - lesser yellow bat

Scotophilus celebensis - Sulawesi yellow bat

Scotophilus collinus - Sody's yellow bat

Scotophilus dinganii - African yellow bat

Scotophilus heathi - greater Asiatic yellow bat

Scotophilus kuhlii - lesser Asiatic yellow bat

Scotophilus leucogaster - white-bellied yellow bat

Scotophilus marovaza

Scotophilis mhlanganii

Scotophilus nigrita - Schreber's yellow bat

Scotophilus nucella - Robbin's yellow bat

Scotophilus nux - nut-coloured yellow bat

Scotophilus robustus - robust yellow bat

Scotophilus viridis - greenish yellow bat

Scotophilus tandrefana

Physical characteristics

The African Yellow House Bat (Scotophilus dinganii) is larger than the Lesser Asiatic Yellow House Bat but smaller than the Giant Yellow House Bat. The average body length is 130 mm and the weight is about 27 grams. The African Yellow House Bat’s face looks similar to that of a dog. The wings can be shades of either olive, grey or red. The back is covered with soft, short fur with a hint of brown, and the abdomen is covered with bright yellow fur. The color of the interfemoral membrane is brown and transparent (Siyabona Africa Travel).

The Lesser Asiatic Yellow House Bat (Scotophilus kuhlii) is smaller and leaner than the African Yellow House Bat. The total body length is about 120 mm and the average body weight is around 16 grams (Siyabona Africa Travel). The forearm length can extend up to 52 mm. A unique physical characteristic of the Lesser Yellow House Bat is the tail, which is long and covered with the interfemoral membrane between the hind legs. The Lesser Asiatic Yellow House Bat has pointy ears and a dog-like face with a dull muzzle. The Lesser Asiatic Yellow House Bat has soft dense yellowish-brown fur on the back. The abdomen fur is composed of either a white or off-white color (Baker).

The Greater Asiatic Yellow House Bat (Scotophilus heathii) is yellow-brown in color with a small hint of green on the back. The average forearm length is about 58 mm. The face of the Greater Asiatic Yellow House Bat, like the other two, also resembles a dog's face. The belly is covered with bright yellow fur (University of Bristol).

Behavior and ecology

Although an individual may roost singly, yellow house bats are grouping mammals. The amount of grouping yellow house bats varies depending on the capacity of a living place. A large cave can generate colonies of less than a hundred; otherwise, groups of 12 to 30 bats max is the common grouping amount in artificial habitats. Some yellow house bats may have more than just one roosting site around the foraging areas. This behavior serves as a mechanism of avoiding predation, interpreted by biologists. Yellow house bats are quite common in suburban areas. They live in nooks and crannies of houses, and are very quiet. Thus, it is difficult for humans to detect their movements nearby because they tend to fly very low at a steady speed, and they only go out for food when the sun sets. Once they go out for food, they continue to feast for approximately 2 hours to reach their full satiety, then rest during daytime.

Reproduction

Like most other species of bats, yellow house bats give birth annually. A birth will often consist of two twin bats. The newborn bats are capable of flight at a very early age, allowing them to defend themselves and participate in the feeding frenzy. Yellow house bats have a unique method of ensuring its pups' survival. When these bats breed, the female will postpone fertilization if necessary in order to time the birth so that the pups are born when prey is at its peak in numbers. Yellow house bats are polygynous; they have multiple sexual partners during their mating season. The males of this species are competitive for female attention. They will defend the female if other males come into its territory. The range of a male's territory depends on the resources that are readily available at the time. The more abundant the food and shelter for the male, the smaller the territory it needs to defend. The female moves from roost-to-roost, usually in different male territories. Yellow house bats feed for about two hours a day.

Diet

Yellow house bats are fond of small insects. Depending on the habitats at the different regions, yellow house bats have different food preys. They prefer to feed on airborne insects, hymenopterans and dipterans, which can be found under the canopies of tall trees and riparian forests at nights. Small insects such as wasps, bees, moths, and beetles are all fearful of yellow house bats. Larger soft-bodied insects can also become yellow house bats' food.

Predators

Although secondary consumers such as owls, hawks, raccoons, snakes and gymnogene consume yellow house bats, these animals do not target bats as a primary food source due to the bats' nocturnal activity, while other predators tend to be diurnal.

Habitat and distribution

Yellow house bats live in various habitats, ranging from woodland savannas, forests to mountains. However, they can also co-exist with humans in rural and urban areas. In the natural environments, they roost in dark caves, the dried leaves of palm trees, hollow tree trunks and so forth. In the vicinity of people, they live in crevices, cracks and holes in building walls, on the roofs of old houses and between overlapping corrugated iron sheets. Yellow house bats derive their name from their ease of adaptation to human presence. Whether they reside in natural surroundings or man-made constructions, they tuck themselves into narrow dark clefts. Some yellow house bats have a high tolerance for harsh weather; it is reported that African Yellow House Bats can live in both dry and moist Saharan habitats.

The Sulawesi Yellow House Bat (Scotophilus celebensis) received its name from its location in Sulawesi

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

, Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. The population is currently unknown, as is the population trend. They tend to live in rather small colonies (Hutson et al.).

The Sody's Yellow House Bat (Scotophilus collinus) can be found in western Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

, Bali

Bali

Bali is an Indonesian island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying between Java to the west and Lombok to the east...

, Lombok

Lombok

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east...

, Flores

Flores

Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, an island arc with an estimated area of 14,300 km² extending east from the Java island of Indonesia. The population was 1.831.000 in the 2010 census and the largest town is Maumere. Flores is Portuguese for "flowers".Flores is located east of Sumbawa...

, Timor

Timor

Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, north of the Timor Sea. It is divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, belonging to the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. The island's surface is 30,777 square kilometres...

, Semau

Semau

Semau, also known as Pusmau and Pasar Pusmau, is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is located 20 miles off the harbor of Kupang. The inhabitants of Samau are the Helong people, who some believe are the original inhabitants of the Kupang area. It is a supplier of firewood...

 and Rote

Rote Island

right|thumb|300px|Satellite photo of RotiRote Island is an island of Indonesia, part of the East Nusa Tenggara province of the Lesser Sunda Islands. It has an area of . It lies northeast of the Australian coast and northeast of the Ashmore and Cartier Islands. The island is situated to the...

 islands in Indonesia, and Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

 in Malaysian Borneo. They have also been found on Lembata

Lembata

Lembata is an island in the Lesser Sunda Islands, formerly known as Lomblen island, is the largest island of the Solor Archipelago, in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. It forms part of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur. The length of the island is about 80 km from the Southwest to the...

 and the Aru Islands

Aru Islands

The Aru Islands are a group of about ninety-five low-lying islands in the Maluku province of eastern Indonesia. They also form a regency of Indonesia.-Geography:...

, possibly also on two islands in Indonesia. Like the Sulawesi Yellow House Bat, very little to nothing about its population is known (Sinaga, U. & Maryanto, I).

The African Yellow (House) Bat (Scotophilus dinganii) has a range in sub-Saharan Africa, from Senegal

Senegal

Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...

 and the Gambia in the west to Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 in the east, south to South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

, Lesotho

Lesotho

Lesotho , officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a landlocked country and enclave, surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. It is just over in size with a population of approximately 2,067,000. Its capital and largest city is Maseru. Lesotho is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The name...

 and Swaziland

Swaziland

Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland , and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique...

. There is no recording of this bat's population either (Griffin).

The Greater Asiatic Yellow House Bat (Scotophilus heathii), also known as the Common Yellow House Bat, is located in South and Southeast Asia, ranging throughout China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, Thailand

Thailand

Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

, Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

, Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

 and Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...

. The bat has been documented from sea level to 1500 metres (4,921.3 ft). The population is high and stable (Bates et al.).

The Lesser Asiatic Yellow House Bat (Scotophilu kuhlii) has a range similar to that of the Greater Asiatic Yellow House Bat's location, with the exception of some countries. The population trend is also the same as the Greater Asiatic Yellow House Bat.