AUGUSTA, Maine - A Maine legislative committee is recommending the state add five species to its list of threatened and endangered species.
A bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Tom Saviello of Franklin would add the cobblestone tiger beetle, frigga fritillary butterfly, six-whorl vertigo snail, little brown bat and Northern long-eared bat to the endangered list.
It also adds the Eastern small-footed bat to the threatened list and changes the black-crowned night heron from threatened to endangered status.
The Legislature's Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Committee recommended passing the bill and it could now come up for a full vote. Environmental officials say the bats need to be added to the list because of the impact of white-nose syndrome on the population.
The state last updated its list of threatened and endangered species in 2007.