About Lasiurus seminolus (Rhoads, 1895)
Lasiurus seminolus, commonly called the Seminole bat, is often confused with the red bat because of its mahogany fur coloring. The species has a frosted appearance from the white tips on its dorsal hairs. Its coloring is not sexually dimorphic, so males and females share similar coloration. The species has an average weight of around 12 grams, and females are larger than males. The Seminole bat occurs in the Southeastern United States, including Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina, as well as parts of Texas, Tennessee, Arkansas, and North Carolina. There are also recorded records of this species as far south as Mexico. It is a migratory species: during the winter, it lives along the Gulf Coast, in the Carolinas, and in southern Arkansas. In the summer, it migrates north as far as Missouri and Kentucky. In 2015, the Seminole bat was documented for the first time in northwestern North Carolina. These bats prefer to live in forested areas. In winter, they use leaf litter and Spanish moss as insulation at their roost sites. Spanish moss is considered an important part of the Seminole bat's environment year-round, and it is thought to be a limiting factor for the species' distribution.
