Nathusius and Soprano bats are attracted to green light

Light could disrupt migratory paths, a consideration when planning night time illuminations 

Date: May 31, 2017
Source: PLOS
 
Some migratory bats are attracted to artificial green light which may interfere with their flight paths, according to a study published May 31, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Christian Voigt from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research and the Free University of Berlin, Germany, and colleagues.

Artificial light at night is increasing worldwide, and is thought to affect bats. Some migrating birds are also known to become disorientated, particularly by red and white light, risking collisions with light sources and wasted energy from unnecessary detours. This has led to recommendations to use blue and green light for illumination, but the effect of this light on bats had not been established.

The authors of the present study therefore exposed bats migrating south along Latvia's shoreline at night to brief periods of artificial green light at a wavelength of 520nm, and recorded and analyzed bats' echolocation calls during lit and unlit intervals to assess the impact of the light.

The researchers found that the two most abundant migrating bat species detected, Nathusius' bats (Pipistrellus nathusii) and Soprano bats (P. pygmaeus), were attracted to the green light, with an increase of 54 percent and 47 percent respectively in the bats' calling activity near the light source when it was illuminated.



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Bat recorded for the first time on St Kilda

1 July 2014,

Last updated at 09:54

A bat has been recorded for the first time on the remote Scottish archipelago of St Kilda.

The Nathusius' pipistrelle, which is a rare sight on the UK mainland, was spotted by visitors last month.

The bat was found on St Kilda's main island of Hirta, resting on the wall of a small, stone-built store known as a cleit.

Nathusius' pipistrelles are a migratory species and were first recorded in Britain in Shetland in 1940.

Individual animals have been recorded on North Sea oil platforms and the Shetland and Orkney islands, according to the Bat Conservation Trust.

The only mammals previously found on St Kilda, which lies 41 miles (66km) east of the Isle of Lewis, were Soay sheep and the St Kilda field mouse.

The islands once had house mice, but they died out after the last human residents abandoned St Kilda in 1930.

The National Trust for Scotland, which manages St Kilda, said it was not known from where the bat had flown.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-28105541