Apodemus agrariusstriped field mouse

Geographic Range

Apodemus agrarius is found in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Southern Siberia, Manchuria, Korea, Southeastern China and Taiwan.

Habitat

Black-striped field mice are commonly found in grassy fields, cultivated areas, rice paddies, woodlands and forests.

Physical Description

The dorsum of these mice is yellow-brown with a prominant black, mid-dorsal stripe. The total length of these animals ranges from 94mm to 116mm, of which 19mm to 21mm are tail. Females have eight nipples.

  • Average mass
    21.5 g
    0.76 oz
    AnAge
  • Average basal metabolic rate
    0.373 W
    AnAge

Reproduction

Mice of this species are capable of breeding throughout the year. Females can produce up to six litters, each of up to six young, annually.

  • Key Reproductive Features
  • gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
  • sexual
  • Average number of offspring
    5.7
    AnAge
  • Average gestation period
    22 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)
    Sex: female
    76 days
    AnAge
  • Average age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)
    Sex: male
    76 days
    AnAge

Lifespan/Longevity

Behavior

The black-striped field mouse is an agile leaper and swimmer. They dig burrows that they inhabit during the nighttime hours. Most individuals live their entire lives and die within 180 meters of their birthplace.

Communication and Perception

Food Habits

These mice are very adaptable in their dietary habits. They eat roots, grains, seeds, berries nuts and insects.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

These mice frequently cause damage to crops or raid food stores. They are also potential carriers of hemorragic fever.

Conservation Status

Contributors

Nancy Shefferly (author), Animal Diversity Web.

Glossary

Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

World Map

bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

endothermic

animals that use metabolically generated heat to regulate body temperature independently of ambient temperature. Endothermy is a synapomorphy of the Mammalia, although it may have arisen in a (now extinct) synapsid ancestor; the fossil record does not distinguish these possibilities. Convergent in birds.

forest

forest biomes are dominated by trees, otherwise forest biomes can vary widely in amount of precipitation and seasonality.

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

World Map

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

tactile

uses touch to communicate

tropical savanna and grassland

A terrestrial biome. Savannas are grasslands with scattered individual trees that do not form a closed canopy. Extensive savannas are found in parts of subtropical and tropical Africa and South America, and in Australia.

savanna

A grassland with scattered trees or scattered clumps of trees, a type of community intermediate between grassland and forest. See also Tropical savanna and grassland biome.

temperate grassland

A terrestrial biome found in temperate latitudes (>23.5° N or S latitude). Vegetation is made up mostly of grasses, the height and species diversity of which depend largely on the amount of moisture available. Fire and grazing are important in the long-term maintenance of grasslands.

References

Corbet, G.B. and J.E. Hill. 1992. Mammals of the Indomalayan Region. Oxford University Press.

Nowak, R.M. and J.L. Paradiso. 1983. Wlaker's Mammals of the World, Fourth edition. John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, London.