Bats belong to the order Chiroptera. In this one family, there are eight different genera occuring in Idaho, with fourteen different species among them. Pictures, distribution and ecology are listed below. In fact, bats are one of the most diverse groups of mammals, achieving second place to the largest group, the rodents.
Many people think of bats as flying rodents, but bats are really more closely related to primates.
Although the familial diversity of bats is especially high in the tropics, only one group, the family Vespertilionidae, is known to occur in Idaho. It is likely that one additional species, Tadarida brasiliensis , the Mexican free-tailed bat, a member of the Family Molossidae, will be found in the extreme southwestern corner of Idaho as our collecting effort expands into less accessible habitats. A Idaho echolocation recording does exist for this species in that area. Additionally, I suspect that Lasiurus blossevillii , the Western red bat, a member of the family vespertilionidae may occur in Idaho. Fourteen species of vespertilionids are confirmed with museum voucher specimens.