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  Profile

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  In flight

Bats

Honduran White Bat

Ectophylla alba

• epic
• 36 km/h
• Near Threatened

Snow-white, thumbnail-sized, shelters under heliconia leaves it folds into a tent. Up to six per leaf.

Population

No global count published; IUCN (assessed 2015) gives no numeric figure, describes the species as "uncommon and local" with an overall decreasing population trend, and estimated past decline of 20-29% in parts of its range (e.g. Costa Rica) due to habitat loss

Habitat

Wet lowland and premontane tropical evergreen (and secondary) forest understory, from sea level up to about 700 m elevation

Fun fact

The Honduran white bat bites through the side veins of large understory leaves (usually Heliconia) so the sides droop down into a private waterproof tent (lasting roughly 7.5 weeks), where small colonies of 1-15 bats roost together, their white fur glowing green from light filtering through the leaf.

Range

Caribbean lowlands of Central America — southeastern Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and western Panama

Diet

Highly specialized frugivore, feeding almost exclusively on the fruit of Ficus colubrinae figs, occasionally other fig species

Size

0.042 m

Wingspan

0.102 m

Lifespan

9 years