page_title: Canyon bat
section_title: Distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Canyon bat / Distribution and habitat
caption_attribution_description: English: Distribution of the Western and Eastern Pipistrelles. This is based on a graph from a 1950 book on Project Gutenberg.Dalquest, Walter Woelber; Eugene Raymond Hall (20 January 1950) "A Synopsis of the American Bats of the Genus Pipistrellus by Dalquest and Hall" , 1, Lawrence, Kansas: University of Kansas, pp.&#160;591-602
context_page_description: The canyon bat, also known as the western pipistrelle, is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Mexico and in the western United States. The species has historically been placed in the genus Pipistrellus, but molecular evidence does not show any close relationship with that genus, and accordingly it was classified into its own genus, Parastrellus, in 2006.
context_section_description: P. hesperus is found in the deserts and lowlands of the western United States and Mexico. While it is most commonly found in the deserts of the southwestern U.S., P. hesperus occupies a range extending north to the state of Washington and south to the Mexican states of Michoacan and Hidalgo. An isolated population has been found in north-central Texas and Oklahoma. These bats prefer the lowlands and are usually the most common bats found below an elevation of 5,000 feet within their range.
  During the day, rock crevices serve as the preferred roosting sites for P. hesperus, although some bats have been found roosting in crevices inside mines. The bats may also be found in buildings, under rocks, and in dense growths of sedge. These roosting sites are much less frequently used than the preferred rocky crevices. Due to their small size, P. hesperus are vulnerable to dehydration and desiccation. Bats of this species inhabiting barren desert areas devoid of trees and rocky outcroppings must find an appropriately sheltered roost in which to spend the daylight hours or risk death. One theory is that P. hesperus spends the day in kangaroo rat burrows, but no evidence currently exists to support this theory. In some areas, the bats may roost in the piles of rocks used to anchor the soil along the bases of highway and railroad embankments.
caption: The canyon bat is found in the areas shaded pink.[8]
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