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While Bulgaria has a rich bat fauna, with large colonies found in caves, mines and other underground roosts, only a small proportion of bat nursery colony roosts have been documented in buildings. During recent field research in the Madzharovo region, however, we discovered the world's largest nursery colony of lesser horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus hipposideros) and Geoffroy's bats (Myotis emarginatus). About 15 000 to 18 500 individuals of eight species use the complex of anthropogenic structures (an abandoned water reservoir and two buildings) as a summer roost, representing around half of all the bat species registered in the region. We strongly suggest that regular monitoring programmes and Species Action Plans are established in Bulgaria, which will ensure the conservation of nursery colonies, not only in Madzharovo, but also in the entire Eastern Rhodope mountains and help prevent future bat population declines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current climate changes have shifted the breeding and wintering ranges in Pipistrellus nathusii, similarly as in some other European bat species. Mainly the originally woodland species undergo the process of synurbanisation and occur more frequently in urban areas today. This short note describes two records of nursery colonies of P. nathusii from towns in eastern Slovakia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pipistrellus kuhlii is recorded in the Dobrogea District for the first time. On the 16th of July 2006, a nursery colony was discovered on the second floor of a building in Constanţa (2.5 m a. s. l., 44°10.4’N 28°38.3’E). External characters as well as cranial and dental measurements of two specimens are given. .

Long-legged bat tick,Ixodes(Eschatocephalus)vespertilionis Koch, was observed and collected from bats roosting in caves and a nursery shelter in the Polish part of the Carpathians between 2010 and 2012. Free-living unfed ticks occurred on cave walls in great numbers. Females and males were the most abundant. High parasite loads were noted on lesser horseshoe batsRhinolophus hipposideros(Bechstein) roosting in caves and in a nursery shelter. Immature stages predominated on bats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research which compared attic and cave colonies of Myotis myotis in Klobuck and Studnisko Cave in Southern Poland and examined the effect of thermal conditions in their maternity colony roost on the differentiation of the body size of young bats. Findings reveal that forearm length of adult females was dependent on the colony type while forearm length of young females was not dependent on colony type and their body weight was independent from the type of colony. Cool weather during pregnancy was also found to cause the differences in the body size of young bats. Factors contributing to the differences in the size of young bats were delayed fertilization, delayed embryogenesis and delayed parturition.

The long-fingered bat Myotis capaccinii (Bonaparte, 1837) is considered rare and is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2007). It remains one of the least studied bats in Europe. Protection of roosts is fundamental to bat conservation but, for it to be effective, knowledge about roosting ecology is required. We evaluated roosting habits, colony structure, and colony composition of M. capaccinii in the National Park of Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli in Greece during 2002-2004 at 6 underground sites. We report results from regular capture of marked individuals and measures of roost microclimate. Individuals formed large maternity colonies in spring. Parturition began in April and by the end of May all captured females had given birth. The 1st volant young appeared in late June and almost all were weaned by the end of July. Summer colonies were sexually segregated; few males were present in the nursery roosts. Adult females began to disperse in August and the proportion of males increased through September and October. Young born in the year remained in the roosts after the females had left. M. capaccinii selected summer roosts with a wide range of temperatures, tolerating temperatures as low as 11.28C, probably because of the thermoregulatory benefits of aggregating in single- and multispecies clusters. Few individuals remained in these sites during the winter. The majority of females appeared to reach sexual maturity in their 1st autumn and most males did so in their 2nd year. Body mass of males increased steadily from spring through to autumn, whereas mass of females only increased in the autumn before hibernation, except for the additional weight of the fetus during pregnancy, implying that reproduction imposes energetic constraints on females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]