Leptonycteris curasoae

Geographic Range

The range of Leptonycteris curasoae is from the southwest of Northern America to northern South America. The farthest north they are typically found is southern Arizona, and they have been recorded in northern Venezuela as their southernmost point (Simal et al., 2015). Depending on the concentration of food resources during the year, particularly when they are becoming sparse, L. curasoae migrates, sometimes as far as over the ocean from one island to another (Simal et al., 2015). During the spring and summer, they can be found above 29ºN (Rojas-Martinez et al., 1999). Throughout the year, though, they are found below 21ºN; this persistence of some members of the population is primarily due to females migrating to find maternity caves. (Rojas-Martinez et al., 1999) (Simal et al., 2015). They are found in the Nearctic region and Neotropical region.

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic nearctic
  • native native
• neotropical neotropical
  • native native

Habitat

Leptonycteris curasoae lives in a semiarid or arid environment potentially including dry forests (Simal et al., 2015). Plants in the area will include cacti, shrubs, and other fruiting and flowering plants that they use as food sources (Simal et al., 2015). They roost in caves and are site-faithful to individual caves in whatever region they live, meaning that they do usually occupy more than one roost (Ober, Steidl, and Dalton, 2005). They migrate to find better food resources, following blooming plants such as cactus and agave, but when the food is abundant, they stay in the same cave as a day roost continually (Ober, Steidl, and Dalton, 2005).

• Habitat Regions
• tropical tropical
• terrestrial terrestrial

• Terrestrial Biomes
• scrub forest scrub forest

• Other Habitat Features
• caves

Physical Description

The southern long-nosed bat is a medium or large bat of the Phyllostomidae family, which means that they have a characteristic leaf-shaped nose. (Cole and Wilson, 2006) Leptonycteris curasoae has small, dark brown ears. (Cole and Wilson, 2006) Their coat is gray-brown when they are adults. (Cole and Wilson, 2006) Male L. curasoae have developed dorsal patches for breeding that have a strong odor and are chemically complex to show females that they are a good mate.(Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011) Their molars are long and thin (Cole and Wilson, 2006). Their tongues are long and brush-tipped to help with visiting flowers for food (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). On average, their forearm length is 46 to 57 mm (Simal et al., 2015). Males have an average mass of 26.4 g (Ceballos and Fleming, 1997). Females who are not pregnant have an average mass of 24.9 g (Ceballos and Fleming, 1997). They can fly approximately 8.2 m/s (Cole and Wilson, 2006).

• Other Physical Features
• endothermic endothermic
• heterothermic heterothermic
• bilateral symmetry bilateral symmetry

• Sexual Dimorphism
• male larger
• ornamentation ornamentation

Reproduction

Leptonycteris curasoae colonies are usually separated by sex, and are combined only for breeding in special caves used for mating (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2015). The female chooses a mate based on the male’s dorsal patch (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). A female will not choose a male without a developed dorsal patch (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). Female L. curasoae use the dorsal patch to choose a mate by analyzing the complex odor and chemical composition of the dorsal patch(Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). A highly developed dorsal patch will indicate the reproductive fitness of a male L. curasoae by showing if they are healthy and if they possess any diseases or parasites that are detectable in body fluids (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). Male southern long-nosed bats develop a dorsal patch during the mating time of the year by smearing themselves with body fluids (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). They spread body fluids collected from the head, mouth, penis and anus onto the interscapular region of their body with their hands (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). The male will smear the body fluids onto the dorsal patch for about 2 minutes whenever they take the time to do this, and they will perform around 100 body touches during this time (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). While collecting body fluids to spread on the dorsal patch, they also lick their hands to use the saliva as a base composition of chemicals on the dorsal patch, and they use saliva before touching the dorsal patch, after touching other parts of their body (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011).

• Mating System
• monogamous monogamous

Leptonycteris curasoae raise the young in maternal colonies that are kept in warm caves, but no cooperative raising of the offspring occurs (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). Maternity caves have been recorded in the Paranguaná Peninsula, Northwestern Venezuela, Margarita island, and Curaçao island (Simal et al., 2015). The warm environment helps the southern long-nosed bat to expend less energy, and it also helps the offspring to develop more quickly (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). The lack of cooperative raising is due partially to the fact that there is not a consistent group of bats that lives together every year due to their seasonal migration (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). The bats are considered to be monestrous, and so there is only one offspring per birth, which happens once a year for the mature female bats (Stoner et al., 2003). Leptonycteris curasoae usually breeds between November and December (Stoner et al., 2003). Populations in Venezuela lactate mainly in June; populations in Curaçao lactate mainly in June (Simal et al., 2015). Their period of gestation typically lasts 6 months (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018).

• Key Reproductive Features
• seasonal breeding seasonal breeding
• gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate)
• sexual sexual
• viviparous viviparous

Leptonycteris curasoae is a mammal and is required to be fairly invested in their offspring for acts such as nursing and raising the young (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). The southern long-nosed bat nurses most often from May to June (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). Unlike some other bats, L. curasoae does not carry their offspring while foraging at night or while flying in the cave; they only carry their offspring during day roosting in the cave (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). L. curasoae will leave their babies in the cave while they go out to forage, and then return a few times a night to nurse (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). The southern long-nosed bat nurses a couple of times each night for a total of 50 minutes of nursing; they nurse for a few minutes and then leave, and then return to let the baby nurse again (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). When the mother bat returns during the night to her offspring, she does not regurgitate any food for the offspring, nor does she groom the offspring (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). Interaction between the mother and baby are mostly nose-nose contacts and allowing the baby to climb onto their chest or back (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). L. curasoae offspring are raised individually, and not communally, mothers will not care for or nurse offspring of other bats (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). During day roosting, the mother bats do not sleep, they are always aware and attentive while resting, spending a lot of their time grooming themselves (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). During this day roost, they do hold their offspring, unlike at night (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998).

• Parental Investment
• female parental care female parental care

Lifespan/Longevity

The average bat, including Leptonycteris curasoae , can live to be about 30 years old (Tuttle, 1997).

Behavior

Leptonycteris curasoae is a migratory bat species, unlike most other bat species, who hibernate during the winter (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). L. curasoae migrates to find food resources like agave and cacti, and they migrate to match the blooming patterns of the plants with which they share a mutualistic relationship. The females of this species are also more likely to migrate than the males (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018).

Leptonycteris curasoae roosts in hot and humid caves, hanging from the ceiling with thousands of other lesser long-nosed bats (Cole and Wilson, 2006). They roost in hot and humid caves to decrease their metabolic expenditure, decrease their water loss during the day, and to help with the development of their embryos and pups (in maternity roosts) (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018).

Leptonycteris curasoae , like other bats, flies and is nocturnal. L. curasoae also is known to hover over clusters of flowers (Cole and Wilson, 2006).

• Key Behaviors
• flies
• nocturnal nocturnal
• motile motile
• migratory migratory
• social social

Communication and Perception

Leptonycteris curasoae , like other bats, uses echolocation to ‘see’ at night, and to find food resources in the dark. Echolocation is a sensory technique that uses sonar waves to create an ‘image’ of the surroundings by processing the sounds that bounce back from the surroundings; the animal hears these returning sonar waves and is able to create an image of the surrounding area based on the way the sound comes back to them. Females of L. curasoae also communicate with males through the male dorsal patch used for reproduction (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011). The dorsal patch uses chemical odor signals to communicate reproductive fitness of the males to the females (Muñoz-Romo, Burgos and Kunz, 2011).

• Communication Channels
• tactile tactile
• acoustic acoustic
• chemical chemical

• Other Communication Modes
• scent marks scent marks

• Perception Channels
• visual visual
• tactile tactile
• echolocation echolocation
• chemical chemical

Food Habits

Leptonycteris curasoae is a nectarivore that eats nectar, pollen, fruit, and flowers near and around their roosting caves (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). Leptonycteris curasoae is not a cooperative bat, and no food is shared amongst the population, but when they are feeding on agave plants, they cooperate by taking turns at the plants (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). While nursing, the southern long-nosed bat , feeds mostly on the flowers of the saguaro cactus; the saguaro cactus opens from May to June and begins to open at night from 21:00 to 23:00 (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). The bats feed from these cacti mostly from 24:00 to 02:00 while foraging during the night. L. curasoae migrates during the year in order to find more food resources, so different kinds of plants are more important during specific times of the year (Fleming, Nelson, and Dalton, 1998). From January to May, Bombacaceae species of plants are most important (Stoner et al., 2003). From June to September, Cactaceae species of plants (cactus) are most important; columnar cactus is often described in conjunction with L. curasoae , and especially with their migratory habits (Stoner et al., 2003). While L. curasoae is an herbivore, they have been found to accidentally ingest insects while eating fruit (Stoner et al., 2003). This ingestion of insects may also help with increased protein and nutrient intake when food resources are more limited.

• Primary Diet
• herbivore herbivore
  • nectarivore nectarivore

• Animal Foods
• insects

• Plant Foods
• fruit
• nectar
• pollen

Predation

Leptonycteris curasoae , like other bats, has a low predation rate due to the fact that they are agile fliers and have fairly protected roosting sites. However, bats like L. curasoae face predation by animals like the giant centipede (Molinari et al., 2005). The giant centipede ( Scolopendridae ) is much larger than the bat and is able to climb onto the ceiling of the roost cave and catch a bat while it is flying by, using its poison claw to inject a venom, subduing the bat (Molinari et al., 2005). Some other predators of tropical bats, including L. curasoae are praying mantises, wasps, mygalomorph spiders, scorpions, solpugids, and decapod crustaceans (Molinari et al., 2005).

Ecosystem Roles

The major ecosystem roles of Leptonycteris curasoae are to pollinate crops and disperse seeds (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). They have mutualistic relationships with many plant species, but most prominently, they eat the fruit, nectar, or pollen of agave and columnar cacti plants (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). Through eating the plants that they follow for blooming patterns during migration, they pass the seeds near and along their yearly migration routes, contributing to the reproduction of the plants, and maintain their own food sources. Another small role that they play in the ecosystem is one of insect population management; they do not intentionally eat many insects, but they eat some while eating fruit, pollen, or nectar (Stoner et al., 2003).

• Ecosystem Impact
• disperses seeds
• pollinates

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

Leptonycteris curasoae pollinates plants that are important to the ecosystem’s health (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). Leptonycteris curasoae is a significant pollinator for the agave plant used in tequila production, a multimillion dollar industry (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). Bats, not just L. curasoae are good at managing pests like insects as well. Bat guano is also a fertilizer that can be harvested for agricultural purposes (Bat Conservation International, 2018). Bats are said to be worth almost $4 billion a year in pest management, minimizing crop damage and the need for pesticides in the agriculture industry (Bat Conservation International, 2018).

• Positive Impacts
• produces fertilizer
• pollinates crops

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

Bats in general, not just Leptonycteris curasoae can be a potential cause of disease for humans, but no more so than other related animals (Hoffmaster, Vonk, Mies, 2016). Bats are most commonly known for spreading rabies, but less than 0.5% of bats contract rabies, and they are not aggressive when they do contract the disease (Tuttle, 1997).

• Negative Impacts
• injures humans
  • causes disease in humans causes disease in humans

Conservation Status

Leptonycteris curasoae is, according to the IUCN, a vulnerable species; the population has experienced about a 30% or more decline over the last 20 years (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, 2015). Leptonycteris curasoae is categorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as being endangered. Mexico has also recognized L. curasoae as being endangered (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum). There are not any current, effective conservation programs for the southern long-nosed bat (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources). Leptonycteris curasoae has experienced population decline due to human expansion, agriculture, vandalism of roosting and maternity caves, and over-harvesting of agave for tequila production (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). Some people also kill the bats because they are mistaken for vampire bats (Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, 2018). In order to experience regrowth and be protected properly, the habitats and food resources for southern long-nosed bats need to be preserved and promoted.

Additional Links

Encyclopedia of Life

Contributors

Genevieve Barnett (author), Colorado State University, Peter Leipzig (editor), Colorado State University, Tanya Dewey (editor), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

References

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Cole, F., D. Wilson. 2006. Leptonycteris curasoae.. Mammalian Species , Issue 796: 1-3.

Fleming, T., G. Wilkinson. 1996. Migration and evolution of lesser long-nosed bats Leptonycteris curasoae, inferred from mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Ecology , Vol 5, Issue 3: 329.

Fleming, T., A. Nelson, V. Dalton. 1998. Roosting behavior of the lesser long-nosed bat, Leptonycteris curasoae.. Journal of Mammology , Vol 79, Issue 1: 147-155.

Hoffmaster, E., J. Vonk, R. Mies. 2016. Education to Action: Improving Public Perception of Bats.. Animals (2076-2615) , Vol 6, Issue 1: 1-9.

Molinari, J., E. Gutiérrez, A. De Ascencao, M. Sar. 2005. Predation by giant centipedes, Scolopendra gigantea, on three species of bats in a Venezuelan cave. Caribbean Journal of Science , 41: 340-346.

Muñoz-Romo, M., J. Burgos, T. Kunz. 2011. Smearing behaviour of male Leptonycteris curasoae (Chiroptera) and female responses to the odour of dorsal patches.. Behaviour , Vol 148, Issue 4: 461-483.

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Rojas-Martinez, A., A. Valiente-Banuet, M. del Coro Arizmendi, A. Alcántara-Eguren, H. Arita. 1999. Seasonal distribution of the long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) in North America: does a generalized migration pattern really exist?. Journal of Biogeography , Vol 26, Issue 5: 1065-1077.

Sahley, C., M. Horner, T. Fleming. 1993. Flight Speeds and Mechanical Power Outputs of the Nectar-Feeding Bat, Leptonycteris curasoae (Phyllostomidae: Glossophagine). Journal of Mammology , Vol 74, Issue 3: 594-600.

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Stoner, K., K. O-Salazar, R. R-Fernández, M. Quesada. 2003. Population dynamics, reproduction, and diet of the lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae) in Jalisco, Mexico: implications for conservation. Biodiversity and Conservation , Vol 12, Issue 2: 357-373.

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U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "Lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae)" (On-line). Environmental Conservation Online System.