Southeastern myotis are cave bats that roost above water and swamp forest, flying low to catch insects at dusk, habits that put them far from Illinois’ open prairie core. The state’s thin record set, just 23 reports tied to Shawnee National Forest, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, and Upper Mississippi River refuge lands, reflects a species living at the edge of its range rather than a common one.
December holds the largest share of Illinois records, with January a distant second and most other months empty. With a record set this small and the most recent sighting dating back to 2016, that pattern says more about when someone happened to be surveying caves and bluffs than about the bat’s actual seasonal habits.
NatureServe ranks the Illinois population S2, imperiled, well below the secure status the species holds in parts of the Southeast. It’s still classified as native here, but between the rarity and the aging record, Illinois reads as a marginal outpost for this bat rather than reliable territory.
