{{Short description|Species of bat}} {{Speciesbox | image = Ia io.jpg | status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=Jiang, T.L. |author2=Feng, J. |date=2020 |title=''Ia io'' |volume=2020 |article-number=e.T10755A21993508 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T10755A21993508.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Ia | species = io | authority = Thomas, 1902<ref name="Thomas">{{cite journal|last1=Thomas|first1=Oldfield|author-link1=Oldfield Thomas|title=On Two new Mammals from China|journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History|date=1902|volume=10|issue=56|pages=164–166|doi=10.1080/00222930208678653|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/19338964|series=7}}</ref> | range_map = Ia io distribution.svg | range_map_caption = Geographic range | synonyms = {{species list| Ia longimana|Pen, 1962| Parascotomanes beaulieui|Bourret, 1942}} | synonyms_ref = <ref>{{cite journal |last1=Topál |first1=Gy. |title=The First Record of ''Ia io'' Thomas, 1902 in Vietnam and India, and Some Remarks on the Taxonomic Position of ''Parascotomanes beaulieui'' Bourret, 1942, ''Ia longimana'' Pen, 1962, and the Genus ''Ia'' Thomas, 1902 (Chiroptera: Verspertilionidae) |journal=Opuscula Zoologica (Budapest) |date=1970 |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=341–347 |url=http://opuscula.elte.hu/PDF/Opuscula10_2_1970/Topal,%20Gy_10_2_14.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Csorba |first1=Gábor |title=The Distribution of the Great Evening Bat ''Ia io'' in the Inodmalayan Region |journal=Myotis |date=1998 |volume=36 |pages=197–201 |url=http://hunbat.hu/html/publikaciok_link/cikkek/east-asia/Ia_io_in_the_Indomalayan_Region.pdf}}</ref> | subdivision_ranks = Subspecies | subdivision = {{species list|I. i. io|Thomas, 1902|I. i. peninsulata|Soisook et al., 2017<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Soisook |first1=Pipat |last2=Sribuarod |first2=Kriangsak |last3=Karapan |first3=Sunate |last4=Safoowong |first4=Mongkol |last5=Billasoy |first5=Sawwalak |last6=Thong |first6=Vu Dinh |last7=Chang |first7=Yang |last8=Gong |first8=Lixin |last9=Lin |first9=Aiqing |last10=Sztencel-Jabłonka |first10=Anna |last11=Bogdanowicz |first11=Wiesław |last12=Bates |first12=Paul J. J. |title=The first record of ''Ia io'' Thomas, 1902 (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the Sundaic Subregion, with a description of a new subspecies from peninsular Thailand |journal=Zootaxa |date=2017 |volume=4344 |issue=3 |pages=573–588 |doi=10.11646/zootaxa.4344.3.8|pmid=29245626 }}</ref>}} }}
The '''great evening bat''' ('''''Ia io''''') is the largest bat in the vesper bat family (Vespertilionidae) and the only living species in the genus '''''Ia'''''. It is common to Eastern and Southeastern Asia (China, India, Laos, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam),<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> mainly living in areas with limestone caves at altitudes of {{convert|400|-|1700|m|mi}}.<ref name="CSIS">{{cite web |url=http://www.chinabiodiversity.com/search/english/detail.shtm?cspcode=010250006 |title=Great Evening Bat |access-date=2006-05-10 |work=China Species Information Service (CSIS) |publisher=Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060515030359/http://www.chinabiodiversity.com/search/english/detail.shtm?cspcode=010250006 |archive-date=2006-05-15 }}</ref> Their roost sites have been found both near the cave entrances and up to {{convert|1.5|km|mi}} within the cave systems.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wcs.org/media/file/LaoWildlifeStatusReport1999225to235.pdf |title=Wildlife of Lao PDR: 1999 status report – Order Chiroptera |access-date=2006-05-10 |author1=C.M. Francis |author2=A. Guillén |author3=M.F. Robinson |publisher=Wildlife Conservation Society |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107114837/http://www.wcs.org/media/file/LaoWildlifeStatusReport1999225to235.pdf |archive-date=2006-01-07 }}</ref>
==Description== The great evening bat reaches a length of {{convert|90|to(-)|105|mm|in}}. It is colored brown on the top and grayish on the bottom.<ref>{{cite book |title=Walker's Mammals of the World |url=https://archive.org/details/walkersmammalsof0001nowa |url-access=registration |last=Nowak |first=Ronald M. |year=1999 |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |isbn=0-8018-5789-9 }}</ref> Average wingspan is {{convert|51|cm|in|abbr=on}} and it typically weighs {{convert|58|g|oz|abbr=on}}.<ref name="Thabah et al., 2007">{{cite journal |last1=Thabah |first1=Adora |last2=Li |first2=Gang |last3=Wang |first3=Yinan |last4=Liang |first4=Bing |last5=Hu |first5=Kailiang |last6=Zhang |first6=Shuyi |last7=Jones |first7=Gareth |title=Diet, Echolocation Calls, and Phylogenetic Affinities of the Great Evening Bat (''Ia io''; Vespertilionidae): Another Carnivorous Bat |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=2007 |volume=88 |issue=3 |pages=728–735 |doi=10.1644/06-MAMM-A-167R1.1 |bibcode=2007JMamm..88..728T |doi-access=free }}</ref>
Not much is known about its habits and behavior. The bat usually lives in small groups. Its food consists of insects during the summer, as with most vesper bats. The great evening bat also sometimes feeds on small birds during the Autumn once insects become more scarce.<ref name="Thabah et al., 2007"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gong |first1=Lixin |last2=Shi |first2=Biye |last3=Wu |first3=Hui |last4=Feng |first4=Jiang |last5=Jiang |first5=Tinglei |title=Who's for dinner? Bird prey diversity and choice in the great evening bat, Ia io |journal=Ecology and Evolution |date=July 2021 |volume=11 |issue=13 |pages=8400–8409 |doi=10.1002/ece3.7667|pmid=34257905 |pmc=8258197 |bibcode=2021EcoEv..11.8400G }}</ref> The bat leaves its sleeping place in the late afternoon in search of food. During the winter months it may migrate to warmer regions.
The Great Evening Bat's constant shifting diet makes it a suitable host for viruses. Due to the switch from insects during the summer to birds during autumn, the Great Evening Bat is known to carry around 35 known virus families.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Huang |first1=Zhenglanyi |last2=Wang |first2=Zhiqiang |last3=Liu |first3=Yingying |last4=Ke |first4=Can |last5=Feng |first5=Jiang |last6=He |first6=Biao |last7=Jiang |first7=Tinglei |date=2024-11-23 |title=The links between dietary diversity and RNA virus diversity harbored by the great evening bat (Ia io) |url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s40168-024-01950-6.pdf |journal=Microbiome |language=en |volume=12 |issue= 1|pages=8 |doi=10.1186/s40168-024-01950-6 |issn=2049-2618 |pmc=11585108 |pmid=39578858 |article-number=246 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
==Status== The IUCN lists its conservation status as near-threatened.<ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021" /> One of the threats to its survival in South Asia is human influence by habitat destruction; many caves have been turned into attractions. They have also been disturbed by farmers collecting their excrement. Also the excessive use of insecticides poses a threat to the great evening bats.<ref name="CSIS"/>
==Scientific name== At four letters, ''Ia io'' is tied with ''Yi qi'' for the shortest existing (and shortest possible) scientific name of any animal under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature,<ref>{{cite web |title=International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, Chapter 4, Article 11.8 |url=https://code.iczn.org/chapter-4-criteria-of-availability/article-11-requirements/?frame=1#art-11-8 |website=code.iczn.org |access-date=29 May 2020}}</ref> and is one of very few scientific names composed solely of vowels.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html#curious%20scientific%20names |title=Curious Scientific Names |first=Doug |last=Yanega |access-date=11 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190620024538/http://cache.ucr.edu/~heraty/yanega.html#curious%20scientific%20names |archive-date=20 June 2019 }}</ref>
The name has traditionally been associated with Io, a figure in classical mythology who was viewed as "flighty," and ''ia'' (ἰά), a Greek word signifying a shout or cry.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=djduDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22ia%22+%22evening+bat%22&pg=PT135|title=South Asian Mammals: An updated Checklist and Their Scientific Names|first=Chelmala|last=Srinivasulu|date=September 3, 2018|publisher=CRC Press|isbn=978-0-429-88089-6|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=I-kSmWLc6vYC&dq=%22Ia+%22+great+evening+bat%22+myth&pg=PA205|title=The Eponym Dictionary of Mammals|first1=Bo|last1=Beolens|first2=Michael|last2=Watkins|first3=Michael|last3=Grayson|date=November 18, 2009|publisher=JHU Press|isbn=978-0-8018-9533-3|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xz1NAAAAMAAJ&dq=%CE%B9%CE%B1+shout&pg=PA325|title=A Lexicon Abridged from Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon|first1=Henry George|last1=Liddell|first2=Robert|last2=Scott|date=August 20, 1878|publisher=Harper & brothers|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U78sAQAAMAAJ&dq=%CE%B9%CE%B1+shout&pg=PA295|title=Schrevelius' Greek Lexicon: Translated Into English, with Many New Words Added, for the Use of Schools; to which is Added a Copious English and Greek Lexicon, Intended to Assist the Learner in Greek Composition |first=Cornelis |last=Schrevel |date=August 20, 1831 |publisher=Baldwin|via=Google Books}}</ref>
Griffiths suggests an alternative meaning behind Oldfield Thomas's choice of name. Instead of a reference to mythology, the name ''Ia io'' might be a joyful exclamation, translating to 'Shout hurrah!'. This interpretation posits that Thomas, who had recently become a Fellow of the Royal Society after three times previously being nominated but failing to receive the required endorsements, was expressing his elation through the naming of this species.<ref>{{Cite journal |url=https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsnr.2022.0006 |title='Shout hurrah!' New thoughts on the origin and meaning of the bat species name Ia io, created in 1902 by Oldfield Thomas FRS |first=Thomas A. |last=Griffiths |date=2022 |journal=Notes and Records |volume=76 |issue=3 |pages=337–350 |publisher=Royal Society |doi=10.1098/rsnr.2022.0006 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>
==See also== *List of short species names
==References== {{Commons category|Ia io|''Ia io''}} {{Wikispecies|Ia io|''Ia io''}} {{Reflist}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q132976}}
Category:Vespertilionidae Category:Taxa named by Oldfield Thomas Category:Mammals described in 1902 Category:Mammals of Nepal