Indian Rufous Horseshoe Bat

The rufous horseshoe bat is named for the horseshoe-shaped part of its large, complex nose-leaf. It weighs 12.2–14.8 g, with a head and body length of 42–66 mm and a forearm of 44.4–52.3 mm. The coat changes with the season, dull brown to greyish brown in summer and bright orange-rufous in winter. It is found in China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Vietnam (Zenodo species treatment; Wikipedia, general species account).

It lives in moist evergreen and lowland forest from sea level to about 1,370 m and roosts in caves, tunnels, tree hollows and wells, in colonies of several hundred. It forages soon after sunset, hawking insects in the air for 30–60 minutes and then hunting from perches through the night, mainly grasshoppers, moths, beetles, termites, mosquitoes and other flies. In India, mating is in late December, gestation lasts 150–160 days and births are in late May or early June (Zenodo species treatment).