Evidence of Tent Use by the Pygmy Fruit-Eating Bat Dermanura phaeotis (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) in Nayarit, México

Abstract

Little information on the making or use of tents by bats is available for Mexico, although tent-making phyllostomids are common and abundant throughout the Mexican tropics. I report the use of tents by Dermanura phaeotis in northern Nayarit, Mexico, in the northern portion of the species' distribution. One bat was found roosting in a boat-apical tent located in a banana (Musa paradisiaca) grove surrounded by tropical semideciduous forest. Other fronds in the same grove were similarly modified as tents.