Flower bats

Flower bats

Order : Chiroptera
Family : Phyllostomidae
Subfamily : Phyllonycterinae
Genus : Phyllonycteris

Facts about the genus Phyllonycteris, the flower bats

Non-flying mammals may be important pollinators where airborne eutheres, such as flower-bats, are rare or absent in time or space (Sussman & Raven 1978). (Full text)

Glossophagine phyllostomids, also known as flower bats, are important neotropical pollinators that regularly engage in hovering, albeit for relatively short periods (Winter and von Helversen, 2001). (Full text)

Hovering in flower bats is associated with a partial supination of distal wing regions that yields vertically oriented lift during the upstroke (von Helversen, 1986). (Full text)

Other subspecies are found from SW Untied States to Guatemala, the Antilles and the Bahamas Buffy Flower Bat (Erophylla sezekorni syops) (species endemic to Caribbean) Buffy Flower Bats are another rare and beautiful local species. (Full text)