Animal sampling
In 2016 we investigated five maternity colonies of greater mouse-eared bats located in the roof of five active churches of South Tyrolean valleys, the northernmost region in Italy. From each colony, a mean number of 32 individuals were captured within their roost during the day, manually or using hand nets according to the structure of the roof and the position of the colony, and placed in individual cotton bags to rest for 10-15 minutes. All animals were inspected and measured to determine the species, age, sex and physiological status. Relevant measurements included the length of the upper tooth row (CM3), which is critical to resolve morphological taxonomy of our target species M. myotis against the siblingM. blythii, which has sporadically been reported in the area (Arlettaz, Ruedi, & Hansser, 1991). From each animal, we collected a tissue sample from the right patagium using a 3 mm biopsy punch and 20-100 µl of blood from the uro-patageal vein using a 300 µl insulin syringe with a 30 G needle. Biopsies and blood samples were used for genetic and serological studies, respectively. All procedures were performed under physical restraint for a maximum of 6 minutes/individual; after sampling, animals were given water to prevent dehydration and were placed in a ventilated cotton bag for small animal transport in groups of 15, until release within the roost. All roosts were sampled twice around mid-May and mid-September, before and after the birth pulse, respectively. A total of 318 blood samples and 338 uropatageal biopsies were collected for the purpose of the study. All personnel working with bats was vaccinated against rabies and showed a protective antibody titer throughout the duration of the project (WHO, 2018).