The common blossom bat (''Syconycteris australis'') also known as the southern blossom bat or Queensland blossom bat, is a megabat in the family Pteropodidae. The common blossom bat feeds mostly on

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

and

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

rather than fruit. It is one of eight Pteropodidae species on mainland Australia. It is one of the smallest of all nectarivorous megabats.

Description

They are small, weighing only . Body length excluding legs is around long.

Distribution and habitat

They are found in the Maluku Islands, Salawati, Biak, Yapen, New Guinea, the Aru Islands, the

Bismarck Archipelago The Bismarck Archipelago (, ) is a group of islands off the northeastern coast of New Guinea in the western Pacific Ocean and is part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. Its area is about 50,000 square km. History The first inhabitants o ...

, Manus Island, the

D'Entrecasteaux Islands D'Entrecasteaux Islands () are situated near the eastern tip of New Guinea in the Solomon Sea in Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The group spans a distance of , has a total land area of approximately and is separated from the Papua New G ...

, the Louisiade Archipelago, New South Wales, Australia, and eastern Queensland, Australia. They range from above sea level. They are found in upland tropical rainforests and the Littoral Rainforests of New South Wales.

Behaviour

They roost singly or in small groups, which makes estimating population based on visual observation difficult. They generally roost in the rainforest subcanopy. They may change roosts daily however (when food was available) distances between subsequent roosts in NSW were short (average 42m at Iluka or 125m at Harrington). They are probably important

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s, as they carry six times as much pollen as birds while also traveling further in a night. The bumpy satinash tree is an important food source for this species in North Queensland, as 95% of all pollen observed on their fur comes from this species on bats caught near flowering trees. Their home ranges are . When foraging, they prefer to fly along riparian zones. Because their energy demands are high and the energy content of a single flower is low, they must visit the equivalent of 36-48 coast banksia flowers every night. To meet their energy requirements, they are active for a large proportion of the night. During the full moon, they will delay their departure from their roosts. This suggests that they are afraid of predators such as owls that hunt by sight.Law, B. S. (1997). The lunar cycle influences time of roost departure in the common blossom bat, S. australis. Australian Mammalogy, 20, 21-24. Other potential predators include goannas and arboreal snakes. Domestic cats are known to capture and injure them. They will enter torpor when food availability is low, or when the ambient temperature is below . Contrary to other bat species, torpor is more common and pronounced in the summer than in the winter.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q1763583 Syconycteris Taxa named by Wilhelm Peters Mammals described in 1867 Bats of Australia Bats of Oceania Bats of New Guinea Mammals of Papua New Guinea Mammals of Western New Guinea Mammals of New South Wales Mammals of Queensland Least concern biota of Oceania