8. Bats disperse the seeds and pollinate the
flowers of many plants.
Fruits that depend on bats for pollination
or seed dispersal include:
bananas, mango
peaches, , guava,
dates, cashews,
carob, figs,
avocados,
jack fruit,
plantains,
9. Dietary characters
• fruit bats: fruits and flowers
• Vampire bats: blood (bats of only one species are obligately
hematophagous)
• Other bats: insects (moths, ants, termites, wasps, leafhoppers,
beetles, crickets, flies, bugs, midges, mosquitoes, and others)
10. Order Chiroptera
• only true flying mammals
• date to Eocene (50 mya)
• worldwide
– 17 families
– 170 genera
– 850 species
• suborders
– Megachiroptera-flying foxes of tropics
– Microchiroptera-worldwide
11. Megabats
• 1 family, 170 species
• Tropics/subtropics
• Frugivores
• Nectarivores
• Insectivores
• Food located by sight/smell
• Very well developed eyes
• Wingspans up to 6 feet
13. Microbats
• 17 FAMILIES 780 SPECIES
• MORE DIVERSE THAN MEGABATS
• FOUND WORLDWIDE EXCEPT POLAR
REGIONS
• USE ECHOLOCATION TO NAVIGATE IN
DARK FOR FOOD
• INSECTIVORES, SOME
CARNIVORES/NECTARIVORES
• 3 SPECIES EAT BLOOD (SANGIVORES)
14. CHARACTERISTICS OF MICROBATS
• They have small
eyes
• Specialized
• developed ears
• Nose leaves
• Small wings
• Light in colour
15. OF ALL BATS IN THE WORLD:
• 2/3 EAT INSECTS
• 1/3 EAT NECTAR
• 1% EAT FROGS, MICE, FISH,
SMALL INVERTS
• < 1/3 OF 1% ARE VAMPIRE
17. Little Brown Myotis
Just the facts:
• PA’s most common bat
• 6-9 grams
• may live to 25 years
• favors ponds and streams for foraging
• forages at about 13 mph, 3-6 m above ground
• mate in early autumn; fertilization in spring upon rousing;
50-60 day gestation
• move to maternity colonies of hundreds
• born after 30 minute labor in late May weighing1.5 grams
• reaches sexual maturity at 8 mos.
Just the bare bones of it…folks!! I think you notice some skeletal similarities....
Bones of the wing are the same as those in the human arm and hand, but the finger bones are very long …
Life in America would not be the same without bats.
Desert ecosystems rely on nectar-feeding bats as primary pollinators of giant cacti, including the famous organ pipe and saguaro of Arizona. They also assist in seed dispersal for these plants.
Note: The turquoise colored footnotes in this presentation are quoted from Important Bat Facts – a pamphlet published by Bat Conservation International
**Bat Fact --Tequila is produced from agave plants whose seed production drops to 1/3000th of normal without bat pollinators.
You may want to think of the long-nosed bats as the tequila connection.