Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
The Mexican Long-tongued bat is the only nectar feeding bat that is not endangered. It is listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife service as a species of concern. Fewer than 400 bats have been seen in the United States since 1906. A long term sustainable food source is important for the survival of the species. Development, prescribed fires, and grazing threaten loss of food plants. Other threats to Choeronycteris mexicana are caving, natural or intentional mine closures, and mine reclamation.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: near threatened
Choeronycteris mexicana pollinates Agave plants.
Pollinates agave and columnar cacti.
May share roosts with Plecotus townsendii and Macrotus californicus.
Ecosystem Impact: pollinates
Choeronycteris mexicana feeds on fruit, pollen, nectar, and possibly insects on rare occasions. They have a long tongue that aids in removing nectar from flowers. Pollen and nectar is acquired mainly from night blooming flowers such as cactus and agave. Nectar and pollen is typically collected while the bat hovers over the flower. Hummingbird feeders provide food for those bats arriving to northern destinations when food sources are not yet available.
Animal Foods: insects
Plant Foods: fruit; nectar; pollen
Primary Diet: herbivore (Frugivore , Nectarivore )
Choeronycteris mexicana is common throughout Mexico with its range extending through Central America and into northern South America. It is also found in some areas of the southwestern United States. The Mexican Long-tongued bat has been found in southern Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. The bat enters these states from Mexico at their very southern border. The Mexican long-tongued bat is rare in the United States. The scarcity of Choeronycteris mexicana in the United States is influenced by temperature and seasonal food availabitity. Some members of the species that inhabit the United States migrate to the southern parts of its range for the winter season.
Biogeographic Regions: nearctic (Native ); neotropical (Native )
Choeronycteris mexicana lives in a variety of habitats ranging from desert, montane, riparian, to pinyon-juniper habitats. The bats are most frequently found roosting in desert canyons, deep caves, mines, or rock crevices. In urban enviroments the bats use abandoned buildings for day roosts. Choeronycteris mexicana inhabits altitudes up to 6,200 feet.
Range elevation: 1000 (high) m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; tropical ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: desert or dune ; forest ; scrub forest
Other Habitat Features: urban ; riparian
The Mexican Long-tongued bat is a medium sized bat with a long rostrum and a nose leaf. It has a long tongue that extends to 1/3 of its body length. It' pelage is gray to brown above and lighter below. Other characteristics include big eyes and a minute tail that extends less than halfway to the edge of the interfemoral membrane.
Average external measurements:
total length-85mm, tail-10mm, foot-14mm, ear-16mm,
forearm-44mm, weight-25g
dental formula
2/0 1/1 2/3 3/3 (X2)=30
Average mass: 25 g.
Average length: 85 mm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; bilateral symmetry
Breeding occurs during the summer months in the northernmost part of the range of Choeronycteris mexicana. Each female bears a single furred young between late June and early July. In southern Mexico young have been seen as early as mid-april. Caves, mines, rock crevices, and abandoned buildings are used as nursery sites. The young remain with their mother until they can fly, 2-3 weeks after birth. Females are known to carry their young in flight. Once young can fly, Choeronycteris mexicana may move their roosts to areas of greater food availability. Young born in the southern United States leave their maternity roosts in October and November for Mexico, Central America, or the northern parts of South America.
Breeding season: June-July
Range number of offspring: 1 (low) .
Average number of offspring: 1.
Average weaning age: 2-3 weeks.
Key Reproductive Features: seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; fertilization (Internal )
Parental Investment: altricial
This taxon is found in the Sonoran-Sinaloan transition subtropical dry forest ecoregion, which comprises a distinct zone of dry forest that forms a north-south transition between the Sonoran Desert to the north and the Sinaloan dry forests to the south. There is a generally low faunal endemism and faunal species richnesss; for example, only 310 vertebrates species are found in the ecoregion, with a notable lack of amphibians and reptiles present. Characteristically tropical species include the magnificent Black-throated Magpie Jay (Calocitta colliei). On the other hand, many more typically northern desert species are also found here, including Jumping Cholla cactus (Opuntia fulgida) and Fish-hook Barrel Cactus (Ferocactus wisliznei).
Bio-climatically, the ecoregion is classified as a dry steppe life-zone, in contrast to the more humid seasonal forests to the south, and arid deserts to the north. Like neighboring regions, rainfall predominates in the summers. Annual rainfall is approximately 10-20 cm. Because of its proximity to the coast, fluctuations in annual temperatures are only on the order of 10-15° C (difference between median monthly high and low temperature). Frost and temperatures below freezing are rare, in contrast to the Sonoran Desert, to the north. Unlike the distinctly xeric desert vegetation to the north, and the tropical deciduous forest to the south, the vegetation of the Sonoran-Sinaloan transition dry forest is dominated by a deciduous thorn forest or selva espinosa. Pockets of semiarid mattoral as well as thorn scrub are also present.
Dominant trees in this forest include many species from the families Acaciaceae, Burseraceae and Leguminosae. Cacti, such as Organ Pipe Cactus (Stenocereus thurberi), are often conspicuous and abundant. Overall, this dry forest is less pronounced and more seasonal than its southern cousin, particularly as one moves north to the margins of the Sonoran Desert. Common and characteristic plants include several acacias: Boat-thorned Acacia (Acacia cochliacantha); and Sonoran Tree Catclaw or Tésota (Acacia occidentalis). The former, a shrub, or small tree, is the only local acacia with boat-shaped thorns. The latter acacia flowers prolifically in March, perfuming the air so heavily that it can often be sensed by scent before it is seen. Another common species in the thorn forest is Torote Prieto (Bursera fragilis).
A number of mammalian taxa are found in this arid ecoregion, among them the following special status taxa; Margay (Leopardus wiedii NT); Mexican Big-eared Bat (Plecotus mexicanus NT); Mexican Long-tongued Bat (Choeronycteris mexicana NT); and the Lesser Long-nosed Bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae VU).
Although precise figures are not available, this region also supports a number of endemic and rare plants, including the arborescent morning glory or palo santo (Ipomea arborescens). This species flowers in the dry season, thus providing pollen to nectar-feeding long-tongued bats (Choeronycteris mexicana and Glossophaga soricina) – amongst the most important pollinators of the Sonoran region – at a time when few other plants are in flower.
The Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is the only species within the genus Choeronycteris.[2] The species is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States.[1]
The genus name Choeronycteris is derived from the Greek words hoiros (pig) and nykteris (bat). The specific name mexicana correlates to its distribution.[2]
The Mexican long-tongued bat is medium in size in the family Phyllostomidae. Its pelage can be up to 7 mm long and is typically gray to brownish but can be paler on the shoulders. Wings are darker brownish gray with paler tips. The ears will also have the same coloration as the body and will vary in size. The tail is short. Body weight is 10-20 g, with a maximum of 25 g in pregnant females.[2]
The species has a distinctly elongated snout tipped with a roughly 5 mm-long nose-leaf. The tongue is long, narrow and extendible, specialized for nectar feeding. It is covered with tiny hairlike papillae, which become more horny towards the base of the tongue. The skull is up to 30 mm long, with the rostrum making up 40-50% of total length. Juveniles have 22 deciduous teeth, which give way to 30 adult teeth.[2]
Like all microchiroptera, Mexican long-tongued bats use echolocation. They are especially sensitive to high frequencies (65–80 kHz) but have been found to respond to lower frequencies in the 5 kHz range.[2]
In the United States, this species is found in the southern parts of California, New Mexico and Arizona.[1] It has also been reported from Texas.[3] Further south, its range extends from Mexico (including Baja California and the Tres Marias Islands) through El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.[4][5] It occurs at altitudes of 300–2,400 meters in deciduous, semi-arid thorn scrub and mixed oak-conifer forests.[6] Northern populations migrate south for the winter.[1]
The Mexican long-tongued bat feeds on nectar, pollen from agaves, and fruits from other plants.[2] Its tongue can extend up to a third of its body length, enabling it to reach nectar deep inside a blossom. In southern Arizona, the species often takes nectar from hummingbird feeders as well.[1]
Breeding occurs between June and September in Arizona, New Mexico, and other parts of the US, and earlier farther south, where a second breeding season may also occur. Females give birth to single young, although up to two have been reported in Guatemala. Males and females segregate during the time of gestation and parturition. The young are born well-furred and start flying at about 4–6 weeks of age.[6]
The species roosts in caves or abandoned buildings during the day. Individuals do not cluster together, hanging 2–5 cm apart suspended by a single foot, which allows them to rotate on their perch. If alarmed, they fly towards the opening and light rather than deeper into the roosting site. Females will carry young but only from one shelter to another.[2]
Migrations follow regional nectar availability.[7] A key factor for migration in glossophagines over larger distances seems to be a large body size that permits storing energy for traveling over areas without available food.[8] Following this idea, C. mexicana might be the larger, migrating version of the small, resident sister taxon Musonycteris harrisoni.[9] Resident species (compared to a migrating species) may know their relatively small home ranges on a fine-grained level, including also locations of less-profitable food plant species. Migrating species, on the other hand, tend to focus on predictably flowering, high-quality resources (von Helversen and Winter 2003).[10][8]
The species has been classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN due to ongoing habitat loss, which includes loss of roosting sites in caves to mining and tourism. It is regarded as a species of Special Concern on California and Arizona.[1]
The Mexican long-tongued bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) is a species of bat in the family Phyllostomidae. It is the only species within the genus Choeronycteris. The species is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, and the United States.
