Arkansas mammals

Western Little Brown Myotis in Arkansas

Myotis lucifugus

Native to Arkansas S1 Critically Imperiled in Arkansas

Not listed as nonindigenous in Arkansas by USGS NAS; native to its Arkansas range.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

EN – Endangered

Very high risk of extinction in the wild.

Little brown myotis roosting alertly on a wooden beamLittle brown myotis roosting in the corner of an attic beamLittle brown myotis roosting on painted wood sidingLittle brown myotis resting among blue spruce branches
Photo: Steph Brulot-Sawchyn · CC0Little brown myotis roosting alertly on a wooden beamPhoto: LeeAnn Latremouille · CC BY 4.0Little brown myotis roosting in the corner of an attic beamPhoto: Tom Romeo · CC BY 4.0Little brown myotis roosting on painted wood sidingPhoto: Patrick Jackson · CC BY 4.0Little brown myotis resting among blue spruce branches

Western Little Brown Myotis in Arkansas, by the numbers

Occasional in Arkansas 31st most recorded of 78 mammals logged in Arkansas

57 occurrence records
2 with iNaturalist photos
Oct 12, 2025 Last seen in Arkansas

Records from 2000–2026.

57 total records count every Arkansas occurrence from GBIF and iNaturalist; the monthly chart covers the 56 records with a full observation date.

When to look for the Western Little Brown Myotis in Arkansas

Most sightings fall in July to August.

56 Arkansas occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Monthly Arkansas records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March4
April6
May0
June3
July21
August16
September0
October5
November1
December0

Monthly western little brown myotis occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) in Arkansas, 2000–2026.

Seasonality

Year-round in Arkansas, with recorded sightings peaking in July–August.

Occurrence map

Where Western Little Brown Myotis has been recorded in Arkansas

57 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

57 Arkansas records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Sylamore Wildlife Management Area 1

Protected places with the most western little brown myotis sightings, from the USGS Protected Areas Database plus named mountain ranges, good spots to look, not a full breakdown, so they don't sum to the total.

Where it's recorded in Arkansas

CountyRecords
Pike County 34
Franklin County 9
Prairie County 9
Independence County 2
Washington County 1
Stone County 1
Pulaski County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 7 Arkansas counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

The little brown bat was once the bat Americans knew best, which makes its Arkansas standing striking: NatureServe ranks it S1, critically imperiled in the state, and the IUCN now lists the species as Endangered worldwide. White-nose syndrome has driven that collapse, hollowing out the cave-hibernating colonies the species depends on.

Arkansas’s 57 records cluster unevenly. Pike County in the southwest accounts for well over half of them, with smaller groups from Franklin and Prairie counties. The forested Ozark country around the Ozark National Forest, Buffalo National River, and Devil’s Den State Park still holds the caves and wooded water the bat needs, and the summer-heavy record, peaking in July and August, matches the season when bats are out and surveys run.

Read the pattern as effort, not abundance: a county with a dedicated bat survey produces records, and one without produces silence. For a species in decline, those quiet counties are the worrying part.

Occurrence data from GBIF.

Little brown myotis roosting alertly on a wooden beam
Full species profile Western Little Brown Myotis Myotis lucifugus Size 8–9.5 cm3.1–3.7 in Weight 6–13 g0.2–0.5 oz Lifespan 35 yr View the full profile

More mammals in Arkansas in the atlas

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources:

  • GBIFCC-BY 4.0occurrence records behind the range map, elevation, and record counts
  • iNaturalistCC0 / CC-BY / CC-BY-SAobservations, photos, and audio recordings
  • NatureServe ExplorerCC-BYthe state conservation rank
  • IUCN Red Listattributed factthe global conservation status
  • USGS NASpublic domainnative / introduced status
  • Natural Earthpublic domainthe relief basemap
  • USFSpublic domainnational-forest boundaries
  • USGS Protected Areas Databasepublic domainthe named parks, forests, and refuges behind "notable places to look"