Chocolate Wattled Bat vs Moth Mullein

Chalinolobus morio compared with Verbascum blattaria

Key Differences

Chocolate Wattled Bat is Least Concern while Moth Mullein is Near Threatened.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Chocolate Wattled Bat	Moth Mullein
Kingdom	Animalia (Animals)	Plantae (Plants)
Phylum	Chordata (Chordates)	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)
Class	Mammalia (Mammals)	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
Order	Chiroptera (Bats)	Lamiales (Lamiales)
Family	Vespertilionidae	Scrophulariaceae
Genus	Chalinolobus	Verbascum
Species	Chalinolobus morio	Verbascum blattaria

Conservation Status

Chocolate Wattled Bat

LC — Least Concern

Moth Mullein

NT — Near Threatened

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Chocolate Wattled Bat	Moth Mullein
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Chocolate Wattled Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Moth Mullein

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Widely distributed across Asia (Japan), Europe (11 countries), North America (Canada, United States), and Oceania and the Pacific (Australia). Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Chocolate Wattled Bat

The Chocolate Wattled Bat (Chalinolobus morio) is a small insectivorous bat in the family Vespertilionidae, endemic to Australia, where it is one of the more widespread members of the genus Chalinolobus — the wattled bats, named for the fleshy lobes (wattles) at the corners of the mouth. Chalinolobus morio is uniformly dark brown to chocolate-brown in colour, compact in build, and has the short, broad wings characteristic of bats that forage in cluttered forest environments at moderate to low altitudes. It is distributed across much of temperate and subtropical eastern Australia, southwestern Australia, and Tasmania, inhabiting diverse forest types from eucalypt woodland and mallee to tropical dry forest. The species roosts in tree hollows, bat boxes, and occasionally in buildings, sometimes forming small colonies. It feeds nocturnally on moths, beetles, mosquitoes, and other flying insects, using echolocation to detect and pursue prey. Like other hollow-dependent bats in Australia, populations are sensitive to the loss of large, old eucalypts with natural cavities. The IUCN classifies Chalinolobus morio as Least Concern given its broad distribution and relatively large population across Australia. Ongoing threats include hollow-bearing tree removal, roost disturbance, cat predation, and barbed wire entanglement.