Facts & Profile

Striped field mouse Apodemus agrarius

The striped field mouse (Apodemus agrarius) is a rodent in the family Muridae. The range of this species stretches from Eastern Europe to Eastern Asia.

Description & appearance

The upper parts of the striped field mouse are grayish brown with a rusty tint with a prominent mid-dorsal black stripe. The under parts are paler and grayish. The ears and eyes are relatively small. The body length reaches 126 mm, with a tail of up to 90 mm, and it weighs up to 50 g. The striped field mouse excavates a short burrow with a nesting chamber at a shallow depth. It is nocturnal during the summer, but mainly diurnal in the winter.

Distribution & habitat

The striped field mouse has an extensive but disjunct distribution, split into two ranges. The first reaches from central and eastern Europe to Lake Baikal (Russia) in the north, and China in the south. The second includes parts of the Russian Far East and from there reaches from Mongolia to Japan. Its expansion across Eastern Europe appears to be relatively recent; the species is thought to have reached Austria in the 1990s.

The striped field mouse inhabits a wide range of habitats including the edges of woodlands, grasslands and marshes, pastures and gardens, and urban areas. In the winter, it may be found in haystacks, storehouses, and dwellings.

Food

Its diet varies and includes green parts of plants, roots, seeds, berries, nuts, and insects.

Reproduction

Three to five broods are born in a year with an average of six young per litter and the population can build up rapidly in a good season. Limiting factors include frequent torrential rains during a warm season, early soil freezing, and predation.