Rusty pipistrelle

{{Short description|Species of bat}}

{{speciesbox

| name = Rusty pipistrelle

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=Monadjem, A. |author2=Taylor, P.J. |author3=Jacobs, D. |author4=Cotterill, F.P.D. |date=2017 |title=Pipistrellus rusticus |volume=2017 |page=e.T17362A22124708 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-2.RLTS.T17362A22124708.en |access-date=16 November 2021}}

| genus = Pipistrellus

| species = rusticus

| authority = (Tomes, 1861)

| synonyms = {{species list

| Scotophilus rusticus|Tomes, 1861 }}

}}

The rusty pipistrelle (Pipistrellus rusticus) is a species of vesper bat. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Its natural habitats are dry and moist savanna. It is of note as perhaps Africa's smallest bat, at average weight of {{convert|3.5|g|oz|abbr=on}}.{{cite book|title=Southern Africa: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Lesotho, and Southern Mozambique|author1=Branch, W.R.|author2=Stuart, T.|date=2007|publisher=Interlink Books|isbn=9781566566391|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=whdVmDW6iXIC|access-date=2015-04-13}}