North Carolina’s records for this bat concentrate in the Coastal Plain, where blackwater rivers, cypress-gum swamps, and wooded wetlands near the Great Dismal Swamp in the northeast give it exactly the roosting and foraging conditions it needs. NatureServe ranks it S2, imperiled, in the state, and the handful of confirmed reports here reflect a species that’s genuinely uncommon and hard to detect, not just under-surveyed.
It’s a small cave bat that hunts low over open water at dusk, skimming just above swamp channels and slow streams for aquatic insects. Roosts are typically in hollow cypress and tupelo trees, culverts, or cave-like spaces, all features tied to the low, wet Coastal Plain rather than the drier Piedmont or the higher, cooler Blue Ridge.
Reports occur in every month but concentrate in March and May. Because this colonial bat roosts in caves and tree hollows, encounters depend heavily on targeted surveys and access to the scattered sites it uses.
