The red bat is one of North America's most beautiful bats. This species is a medium-sized bat with long pointed wings and color varying from bright orange to yellow-brown, with the males usually a more vibrant shade of orange. The long tail and interfemoral membrane make this bat easily recognizable. The interfemoral membrane is heavily furred, and in flight the tail extends straight out behind the bat.

Red bats are very abundant throughout their range; they are found throughout the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. and into Canada and Mexico.

In the daytime, red bats roost in the foliage of trees, where they choose the stem of a leaf to hang on. Hanging in a tree by one foot, a red bat looks just like a dead leaf. Red bats emerge early in the evening, and forage over the same areas nightly. They are considered to be highly migratory, sometimes even flying with birds in the evening while migrating to a warmer state.

Red bats are solitary roosting bats, only roosting with other bats when the females have young ones.

They breed in August and September, however, the female does not become pregnant until Spring. The number of pups in a litter ranges from one to four with an average of 2.3. Blue jays prey on the young ones heavily, giving red bat pups a higher mortality rate then other young bat species. Predators of adult red bats include opossums, hawks, owls, cats, and humans.