The brown flower bat (''Erophylla bombifrons'') is a species of

bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...

from the family Phyllostomidae. It is native to the island of

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

, present in both

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and the

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares wit ...

, and

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

. In most cases, the brown flower bat is recognized as part of the

buffy flower bat The buffy flower bat (''Erophylla sezekorni'') is a species of bat in the leaf-nosed bat family, Phyllostomidae. It is found in the Bahamas, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, and Jamaica. Description The buffy flower bat is considered a medium-sized ...

, and there are two recognized subspecies: ''Erophylla bombifrons bombifrons'' and ''Erophylla bombifrons santacristobalensis''.

Conservation and habitat

Under the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

, the brown flower bat is classified as

Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

because of its population and distribution. Locally common, the brown flower bat can form and roost in colonies of thousands of bats in cooler portions of its habitat. Major threats involve general issues with caves, as it is a hot cave species, hurricanes, and mining in its habitat; it is, however, found in conserved areas.

Diet and behaviour

Compared to other bats, the brown flower bat begins foraging rather late. Its diet consists of some combination of fruit, nectar, and insects; in a more detailed survey of its diet, 75% of specimens had eaten insects, 76% had eaten nectar, and 85% had eaten fruit, and about half had eaten all three during their most recent foraging period. Fecal pellet and fur examinations have determined that this bat often feeds on the fruit of the Jamaican cherry,

elderberry ''Sambucus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Adoxaceae. The various species are commonly called elder or elderberry. The genus was formerly placed in the honeysuckle family, Caprifoliaceae, but was reclassified as Adoxaceae due to ge ...

, and

turkey berry ''Solanum torvum'', the turkey berry, devil's fig, pea eggplant, platebrush or susumber, is a bushy, erect and spiny perennial plant used horticulturally as a rootstock for eggplant. Grafted plants are very vigorous and tolerate diseases aff ...

, while visiting the

banana flower A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...

, and wild tamarind for nectar.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2347845 Mammals described in 1899 Erophylla Taxa named by Gerrit Smith Miller Jr. Bats of the Caribbean Mammals of the Dominican Republic

Conservation and habitat

Diet and behaviour

See also

References