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> Honduran Ghost Bat
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The Honduran ghost bat is native to the lowland tropical forests and banana plantations of Central America. Ghost bats are furry white over most of their bodies, with prominent, leaf-shaped yellow noses and small, pointed yellow ears. The skin of their knees and feet is pink; their furless wings are pale gray. Adult ghost bats are one and a half to two inches long, with wingspans of four inches. They weigh only five grams--about as much as three pennies.
Ghost bats are mammals. They have teeth and fur. They are warm blooded, and they give birth to live young, which they nurture with mother's milk. Bats are the only mammals capable of true flight.
Ghost bats have short necks and strong, broad chests and backs for flying. Like other fruit-eating bats, Honduran ghosts have keen eyesight and a powerful sense of smell, which helps them locate ripe fruit. Like all bats, Honduran ghosts are nocturnal: they forage and feed at night, sleeping through the day.
How do they see to fly in the dark?Bats find their way around at night by "echolocation." They make high-pitched squeaks, too high to be heard by most human ears (young children can sometimes hear them). These small sounds echo when they hit objects. Bats judge the size and distance of objects by the time it takes the echoes to reach them and the direction from which they come.
Echolocation creates an abstract picture or map in a bat's brain, giving it a clear sense of what is nearby, including things in motion. Echolocation works so well that bats are able to locate tiny mosquitoes and other flying insects in total darkness and--swoop--eat them up!
Sonar devices were inspired by bat echolocation, also called biosonar, which was first accurately understood in the 1930's. Porpoises and swiflets also use echolocation.
Do ghost bats eat insects?The ghost bat's diet consists mainly of fruit, but they also eat pollen, flowers, and occasionally insects. Among their favorite foods is fruit of the fig tree. In fact, ghost bats are primary propagators of Central American fig species, including strangler figs. They feast on figs and within fifteen to twenty minutes defecate dozens or hundreds of the fruits' tiny seeds. Because they defecate "on the wing" they spread fig seeds throughout the forest canopy.
Scientists call the period it takes an animal to digest and defecate a seed "gut throughput time."
The special connection between figs and bats is a kind of symbiosis that scientists call "mutualism." Figs rely on bats to spread their seeds; bats rely on figs for food. This system of mutual reliance works so well that bats are principal forest regenerators, especially in deforested areas where figs are dominant pioneer species.
What eats ghost bats?Ghost bats are prey for owls and other raptors (predatory birds), possums, and snakes. Preditors invade bat roosting places or lie concealed in fruit trees, waiting for foraging bats to land nearby. Some raptors capture bats in flight.
Where do ghost bats live?Ghost bats prefer humid and dry lowland forests. They roost about six feet off the ground in heliconia or platanillas, large shrubby plants with giant leaves. Bats work together to construct shelters by biting the midribs of these leaves until they droop or "tent." Each tent may provide a home for several weeks.
During the day, ghost bats hang upside down, suspended from the midribs of their tents, hidden from predators and protected from rain. Their white fur reflects the green leaves around them, providing excellent camouflage. If a predator approaches, its movement causes leaves and stems to vibrate, alerting the bats to approaching danger.
Fifteen additional species of neotropical bats also roost in tents. Species in other environments inhabit caves, tree hollows, and buildings. These roosting places, which are "underutilized" by other animals, provide perfect habitat for small flying mammals--sheltered from predators, warm, and dry.
Do ghost bats live by themselves?Like most tent bats, ghost bats live in "colonies" of up to twelve individuals, including one male, his "harem" of several females, and their offspring. Male bats defend their harems and their roosting places from challengers--single males who wish to move in.
Adults who have not mated roost in smaller colonies of two to four bats, males and females together. Adult and juvenile ghost bats forage independently, coming and going from their roosts as they please.
How can they sleep upside down without falling out of their tents?Bats' feet grip automatically, so they can easily groom and sleep upside down. To release their grip takes effort--so they have to work to let go. They take flight instantly after releasing. Also, bats' knees and feet face "backwards" (in comparison with other animals), an adaptation that makes roosting upside down easier.
What are baby bats like?The ghost bat reproduction cycle is timed so that most births occur in April, during the dry season. Each mother gives birth to a single "pup." Mothers hang right side up to give birth, catching newborns with their knees and tails.
Pups are nursed for thirty days. Roosting mothers hold pups tightly for warmth and protection. Newborns cling to their mothers' fur as they forage and feed. Older pups, too heavy to carry while flying, are left behind in the tent, where mothers bring them fruit. Pups learn to fly and begin foraging with their mothers when they are about twenty days old. They reach adult size by the thirty-seventh day.
Bats are the longest-lived mammal of their size. Some species have life spans of more than thirty years.
Do bats harm people?Many people are terrified of bats, in part because of their association with rodents. However, bats are not flying mice. In fact, they are more closely related to primates than to rodents.
Vampire bats prey on cattle and birds, and in Central America, vampire bat populations are growing, due to increased cattle ranching. No species of vampire bat preys on human beings.
In some areas, bats are indiscriminately the targets of eradication programs. Except for vampire bats, there is no good reason to destroy bats. They are far more beneficial than harmful to the natural environment.
Contrary to popular belief, bats do not get caught in human hair, and they are no more likely to carry rabies than other wild mammals.
How are bats like primates?Although it may not seem so to the casual observer, bats' skeletal structures are similar to primates'. For example, bats' wings are modified hands; every bone in a bat's wing is "analogous to" or like a similar bone in a human hand.
A double layer of thin, translucent skin, stretched across their "fingers" and between their front and hind legs transforms bats' hands to wings. To fly, bats move their wings in a rowing motion, spreading and closing their fingers. Their small thumbs are separate from their wings and are used for climbing and other activities requiring dexterity.
Bats have something in common with cats, too. Every day they carefully groom their fur, wings, and teeth.
How do bats benefit the environment?Bats that eat fruit, pollen, and flowers are often primary pollinators and propagators. Many plants that human beings depend on for food are dependent on bats, including avocados, plantain, mangos, dates, vanilla, bananas, guavas, cashews, ceiba trees (kapok), balsa trees, sisal, chicle trees, saguaro cactus, and agave.
Insect-eating bats provide natural pest control, reducing the numbers of harmful insects. In both tropical and temperate climates, bats help minimize populations of disease-spreading mosquitoes. A single bat can consume approximately 2,000 flying insects in a night. A small colony of 30 bats might consume 60,000 mosquitoes every day.
Bracken Cave near San Antonio, TX is estimated to house more than 20 million free-tailed bats, which may eat 40,000,000,000 insects a day. Scientists estimate that the total bat population in Texas consumes 18,000 metric tons of insects annually.
In general, bats are crucial to worldwide environmental health. Insofar as human beings are dependent on healthy environments, they are dependent on bats.
Species and Range.Bats are animals of the Chordata phylum, Mammalia class, Chiroptera order, Phyllostomidae family, Ectophylla genus. Ghost bats are species Ectophylla alba. Chiroptera is an Ancient Greek word meaning "winged hand."
There are approximately 4,500 different mammal species worldwide. Of these, 1,000 are bats. More bats are found in the tropics than any other mammal. The greatest variety of bats is found in South and Central America. Ghost bats are native to Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama.
Are Honduran ghost bats endangered?No bat species are currently endangered. Most tropical bats are threatened by habitat fragmentation and destruction, although many, including ghost bats, have adapted to life in agricultural plantations.
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