The soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus ) is a small species of bat. It is found in Europe and often roosts on buildings.
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starts withThe soprano pipistrelle is known to roost throughout Europe in rooftops and houses. One study, by Lourneco and Palmeirim, suggested that the reason for a preference for rooftops was because of the available thermal differences throughout a roof. Although soprano pipistrelles can thermoregulate up to 40 degrees Celsius, they prefer not to go above this temperature. Rooftops give the maternity colonies access to cooler spots on warmer days and warmer spots at other times. This was discovered by the use of different coloured bat boxes and seeing how commonly each was used. Although black bat boxes could get too warm they were most frequented, suggesting a preference for warmer temperatures. In a study done by Nicholls and Racey, the habitat of the soprano pipistrelle was found to be small, around 487 ha. It consisted mostly of agricultural land but also saw a significant increase in woodland edge and grasslands used as habitat. When it came to foraging habitat, however, soprano pipistrelles chose riparian woodland over all other habitats by a significant amount. Hunting areas can be up 4–10 km away from the roost. Water followed in as second and these two habitats combined made up "77% of foraging time". (Nicholls and Racey)
Soprano pipistrelles will congregate in maternity colonies while they are pregnant and nursing their young. This causes a problem for the human population because these colonies can get quite large, in fact much larger than the Pipistrellus pipistrellus colonies, which tend to be fewer than 200 bats. This large size of colony causes a nuisance for humans because of the smell. During early pregnancy, Pipistrellus pygmaeus emerges later from its roost than it does in late pregnancy or lactation. This could be due to the large size of the colonies in the Soprano pipistrelle. Early pregnancy occurs in May and late pregnancy occurs in June and July while lactation occurs in August. (Lourneco and Palmeirim).
