Indiana has just 5 records of the western little brown myotis from 2000 on, all research-grade iNaturalist observations and one of them also held in GBIF. That’s a thin record set for a bat that used to be one of the most frequently recorded in the eastern United States.
Scattered records, away from the cave country
The recent records come one apiece from Allen, Tippecanoe, Marion, Johnson, and Monroe counties, mostly in the middle of the state rather than the far south. It’s a different part of the state from where the real crisis has played out. Indiana’s hibernating colonies cluster in the caves of the unglaciated south, and white-nose syndrome has hit that cave country hard since the fungus arrived.
A small August cluster
August holds two of the recent records, with single ones in March, June, and October. That’s far too few to call a pattern, but the August pair lines up with the month when little brown myotis across their range gather near cave entrances ahead of winter.
Status in Indiana
NatureServe ranks the western little brown myotis S1, critically imperiled, in Indiana, a harder hit than its already-Endangered global status. It’s still native to the state, but its numbers here have fallen further and faster than in most places this bat is tracked.
Full species profile
