Bringing back Bat Fact Friday after a LONG break from the blog.
Wow, these beautiful creatures have had an especially rough time of it since my last* Bat Fact Friday post 😦 None of the recent nonsense occurring in the world is their fault, they are precious little leathery star-kissed angels and we owe them our respect and protection. In case you were curious, expert ecologist and bat dad Merlin Tuttle lays down the facts about the exaggerated and/or baseless disease claims that can be so harmful to bats, in a way that’s easy to understand (and share).
Many midnight moons ago, in my previous Bat Fact Friday post, I mentioned that the Chiroptera (bats) order is divided into two suborders: These are megachiroptera (megabats or Old World fruit bats) and microchiroptera (microbats or “true” bats). My fact for the week is a quick comparison between megabats and microbats.
Note: This is one of two ways that bats are classified; it’s based on their morphology (shape) and behaviour – and it’s also not the most accurate way to divide them. The newer classification method is based on their evolutionary relationships, and I’ll definitely talk about it more in a future post.
About Megabats
- Most species (not all) tend to be larger, with flying foxes being the largest
- Apex pollinators; fructivorous and nectarivorous
- Feed on fruits, blossoms, nectar and pollen
- Typically sleep with the wings wrapped abound the body
- Have a claw on the second “finger”
- Most species don’t have tails
- Larger eyes and very good eyesight in dark or twilight conditions
- Powerful sense of smell
- Smaller ears which don’t have a tragus
- Don’t use echolocation (some may use tongue-clicking)
About Microbats
- Most species (not all) tend to be smaller, with the bumblebee bat being the smallest
- Insectivorous and carnivorous
- Feed on moths, flies, mosquitoes, crickets, beetles, etc.; or on lizards, frogs and even fish (except for vampire bats, which feed on blood)
- Rest with the wings folded along the forearms
- No claw on the second “finger”
- Many species have tails
- Smaller eyes (but good eyesight)
- Larger ears which include a tragus
- Use echolocation to hunt prey (“true” echolocation using the larynx as opposed to tongue-clicking)
This is a very short, simplified understanding of what characterises a megabat and a microbat, but hopefully it sheds some (gentle eventide) light on why some types of bat look more foxy and fluffy, while others look more creepy and cryptid-y. I love them all – the big boyes are our special nighttime pollinators, and the smol guys are pest-control specialists.
Bat’s the way I like it,
The Ghoul Next Door xx
*Yeah this was written a WHILE ago.
Photo by Clement Falize on Unsplash.
The Ghoul Next Door 