Western barbastelle
Barbastella barbastellus (Schreber, 1774)
The western barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus) is a bat in the family Vespertilionidae, order Chiroptera. It is a tiny mammal with an adult body mass of 8.03 g, up to 10 g, and a wingspan of 25.8 cm.
Quick facts about the western barbastelle
The western barbastelle is a nocturnal, aerial invertivore. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
- Weight
- 8.03 g – 10 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Wingspan
- 25.8 cmsrc for Wingspan
- Lifespan
- 21 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Invertivoresrc for Diet
- Longest recorded lifespan
- 23 years
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1 – 2src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 18 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- At night (nocturnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Aerialsrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Near Threatened (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
How big is the western barbastelle?
Photos of the western barbastelle
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the western barbastelle live?
Not recorded
What is the western barbastelle?
The western barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus), also known as the barbastelle or barbastelle bat, is a European bat in the genus Barbastella. This species is found from Portugal to Azerbaijan and from Sweden to Canary Islands, where a sub-species was identified. It has a short nose, small eyes and wide ears. The conservation status of B. barbastellus is assessed as "near threatened", "vulnerable", "critically endangered" or "extinct" in various parts of its range.
From the Wikipedia article “Western barbastelle” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Western_barbastelle&oldid=1376891165), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the western barbastelle endangered?
The western barbastelle is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List: it is close to qualifying as threatened.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Near Threatened species. What the categories mean.
How is the western barbastelle classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderChiroptera
- familyVespertilionidae
- genusBarbastella
- SpeciesBarbastella barbastellus (Schreber, 1774)
Synonyms Barbastella communis, Barbastella daubentoni
Other names and names in other languages (53)
- BarbastelleEnglish
- BarbastelleEnglish
- BarbastelleEnglish
- BarbastelleEnglish
- Barbastelle batEnglish
- Barbastelle batEnglish
- European barbastelleEnglish
- Еўрапейская шыракавушкаBelarusian
- Ratpenat de boscCatalan
- saukušanCzech
- netopýr černýCzech
- netopýr mopsličíCzech
- ušan širokouchýCzech
- Ystlum DuWelsh
- Ystlumod DuWelsh
- Bredøret flagermusDanish
- Westliche MopsfledermausGerman
- MopsfledermausGerman
- ΜπαρμπαστέλλοςGreek
- BarbastelaSpanish
- Murciélago de bosqueSpanish
- mopsilepakkoFinnish
- Barbastelle CommuneFrench
- Barbastelle d'EuropeFrench
- BreedearflearmûsWestern Frisian
- nyugati piszedenevérHungarian
- Barbastello comuneItalian
- BarbastelloItalian
- ヨーロッパチチブコウモリJapanese
- 서부바르바스텔레박쥐Korean
- Europinis PlačiaausisLithuanian
- platausainais sikspārnisLatvian
- Europeisk BarbastellNorwegian Bokmål
- bredøreNorwegian Bokmål
- bredøreflaggermusNorwegian Bokmål
- bredøret flaggermusNorwegian Bokmål
- mopsvleermuisDutch
- DwarsoorvleermuisDutch
- breiøyreNorwegian Nynorsk
- breiøyra flaggermusNorwegian Nynorsk
- breiøyreflaggermusNorwegian Nynorsk
- Mopek zachodniPolish
- Morcego-negroPortuguese
- Liliac cârnRomanian
- Европейская широкоушкаRussian
- Uchaňa čiernaSlovak
- širokouhi netopirSlovenian
- Bredörad fladdermusSwedish
- barbastellSwedish
- Sakallı YarasaTurkish
- Basık Burunlu YarasaTurkish
- Широковух звичайнийUkrainian
- Широковух європейськийUkrainian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the western barbastelle
Other species in the same genus Barbastella.
Arabian barbastelle
Barbastella leucomelas
Beijing barbastelle
Barbastella beijingensis
Asian barbastelle
Barbastella darjelingensis
Caspian barbastelle
Barbastella caspica
Japanese barbastelle
Barbastella pacifica
CompareWestern barbastelle vs Arabian barbastelleWestern barbastelle vs Beijing barbastelleWestern barbastelle vs Asian barbastelleWestern barbastelle vs Caspian barbastelle
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the western barbastelle?
The western barbastelle is a bat, a mammal in the family Vespertilionidae and the order Chiroptera.
How big is the western barbastelle?
It is a tiny bat with an adult body mass of 8.03 g, up to 10 g. Its wingspan is 25.8 cm.
Is the western barbastelle endangered?
No. It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, which is not an IUCN threatened category.
How long does the western barbastelle live?
Its lifespan is 21 years, with the highest value reported by our sources at 23 years.
How many young does the western barbastelle have?
It has 2 young per litter and 1 litter per year. It reaches sexual maturity at 1.5 years.
Who named the western barbastelle?
Its scientific name, Barbastella barbastellus, carries the authority (Schreber, 1774).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Western barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-barbastelle
“Western barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-barbastelle.
@misc{western_barbastelle_2026,
title = {Western barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/western-barbastelle},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}