West Virginia mammals

Western Little Brown Myotis in West Virginia

Myotis lucifugus

Native to West Virginia S1 Critically Imperiled in West Virginia

Not listed as nonindigenous in West Virginia by USGS NAS; native to its West Virginia 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 West Virginia, by the numbers

Rare in West Virginia 57th most recorded of 77 mammals logged in West Virginia

85 occurrence records
4 with iNaturalist photos
Apr 18, 2023 Last seen in West Virginia

Records from 2000–2026.

When to look for the Western Little Brown Myotis in West Virginia

Most sightings fall in April.

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

Monthly West Virginia records (table)
MonthRecords
January19
February5
March3
April30
May5
June2
July1
August2
September1
October1
November15
December1

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

Seasonality

Year-round in West Virginia, with recorded sightings peaking in April, with a smaller rise in January.

Occurrence map

Where Western Little Brown Myotis has been recorded in West Virginia

85 records mapped · zoom and drag to explore

85 West Virginia records mapped

Notable places to look

Park, forest, or monumentiNaturalist records
Monongahela National Forest 7
Spruce Knob-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area 1
Potomac 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 West Virginia

CountyRecords
Pendleton County 38
Greenbrier County 38
Gilmer County 2
Tucker County 2
Randolph County 2
Mason County 1
Pocahontas County 1
Grant County 1

The complete county distribution, spread across 8 West Virginia 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’s West Virginia record tells a stark story: all 85 documented sightings come from GBIF, essentially none from casual photographs, and NatureServe rates the state population S1, critically imperiled, matching the IUCN’s global Endangered listing driven by white-nose syndrome’s near-total collapse of this species’ hibernating colonies since the disease reached West Virginia’s karst caves.

Records spike hard in April (30, more than a third of the total) and again in January and November (19 and 15), tracking the weeks when survey teams count bats at hibernacula entering or leaving winter dormancy, the exact narrow windows when a species this reduced is still detectable in any numbers at all.

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 West Virginia 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"