Gould’s Wattled Bat, Chalinolobus gouldii, was named after the English Naturalist, John Gould. The wattles referred to are fleshy lobes near the corners of the mouth.

Gould’s Wattled Bat is a small insectivorous bat, which uses echo-location to find its way in the dark. They are very fast and agile, able to catch moths and other insects in flight.

Identifying microbats involves measuring the forearm length. Gould’s Wattled Bat identified by the presence of wattles and a forearm length of over 40mm. They have brown fur on the body, with contrasting black fur on the head and shoulders, while other species are more uniform in colour.

They typically have a head and body length of 70mm, a tail 45mm long, a 44mm long forearm, a wingspan of 300mm and weigh 14 grams.

Gould’s Wattled Bat live in groups of around 30, sometimes upto 200. They usually  roost in hollow tree limbs, but they may opportunistically use any suitable hollow.

Gould’s Wattled Bats were captured in a Harp Trap at Mandeni, indicating that they inhabit the very moist forest/wetlands occurring on the lower slopes.

Photo by G Lewis, from Museum of Victoria website

For more information see: Chruszcz, B., & Barclay, R. M. R. (2002). Chalinolobus gouldii. Mammalian Species, 690, 1-4.