Bats Pollinate Desert Plants

After-dark Pollinator

Feb 20, 2007
Robert Dailey

In the desert, and in tropical regions, bats are important both for pollination and seed dispersal.

pollen,You won’t see bats pollinating flowers, unless you have a quick eye and are out and about after dusk.

There are two species of bats that are important pollinators of desert plants in North America: the Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) and the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae).

Mexican Long-Tongued Bat

This bat can be found in southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, all throughout Mexico and as far south as Nicauragua.

It prefers caves, mines or buildings in desert canyons and arid mountain ranges.

The Mexican long-tongued has a 14-inch wingspan, with a body anywhere from about two to three inches long. It has gray or brown fur on the top of its body which fades to paler hues below. It has very large eyes, tiny tail, a long, slender nose with a tip that resembles a small arrowhead. Its tongue can extend one-third the length of its body.

Its diet is nectar and pollen from cactus and agaves, but it may even feed at your hummingbird feeder.

As it feeds, this bat gets dusted with pollen, which it spreads from flower to flower.

Lesser Long-Nosed Bat

This bat is a little smaller than the Mexican long-tongued. Adults are brownish yellow or grayish yellow above and below are a rusty brown color. The wings are black.

These bats also live in caves, abandoned buildings and mines, but they prefer hiding places in scrub desert.

The lesser long-nosed bat feeds on fruit and nectar from the saguaro cactus, Organ Pipe cactus, as well as flowers from agave.

Following an incredibly long migration path (at least 1,000 miles of agave and cactus that bloom in sequence from south to north), these animals fly from Central Mexico to Arizona and New Mexico. These bats may fly more than 100 miles in one night.

Both these species are endangered, due to pesticides and loss of habitat.