New Jersey mammals

Western Little Brown Myotis in New Jersey

Myotis lucifugus

Native to New Jersey S1 Critically Imperiled in New Jersey

Not listed as nonindigenous in New Jersey by USGS NAS; native to its New Jersey 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 New Jersey, by the numbers

Occasional in New Jersey 57th most recorded of 94 mammals logged in New Jersey

2 occurrence records
2 with iNaturalist photos
Aug 6, 2024 Last seen in New Jersey

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Western Little Brown Myotis in New Jersey

Most sightings fall in July to August.

2 New Jersey occurrence records (iNaturalist and GBIF) by month of year, 2000–2026. Shows when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence. Based on a small number of dated records; the seasonal pattern may not be representative.

Monthly New Jersey records (table)
MonthRecords
January0
February0
March0
April0
May0
June0
July1
August1
September0
October0
November0
December0

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

Seasonality

Sparse observation record in New Jersey; presence confirmed but timing of activity not well documented.

Occurrence map

Where Western Little Brown Myotis has been recorded in New Jersey

2 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

2 New Jersey records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Great Swamp Wilderness 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 New Jersey

CountyRecords
Morris County 2

The complete county distribution, spread across 1 New Jersey counties. Every occurrence record falls in one county, so these sum to the total. Counties from GBIF and US Census boundaries.

New Jersey has only 2 little brown bat records since 2000, both from Morris County, one of them at Great Swamp Wilderness Area. Most of the state’s older specimens, collected before 2000, came from Morris County too, but two recent records are far too few to say where the bat holds on today.

Both recent records fall in high summer, one in July and one in August, the newest dated August 2024, the season when little brown bats leave their roosts each evening to hunt insects over ponds and wetland edges.

NatureServe ranks the species S1, critically imperiled, in New Jersey, and the IUCN lists it as Endangered globally. White-nose syndrome hit the state’s cave and mine bats hard, and the little brown bat, once the default bat over suburban ponds, is now one of the most closely watched mammals in New Jersey.

Occurrence data from iNaturalist and 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 New Jersey in the atlas

Data & sources

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