this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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Bats
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Bats are cool
Bats are the only true flying mammals. There are over 1,400 species of bats, and they can be found on nearly every part of the planet. Not only are they cute, they are also important...
Studying how bats use echolocation has helped scientists develop navigational aids for the blind. Without bats’ pollination, seed dispersal, and pest control we wouldn’t have bananas, avocados, mangoes, agave, or cacao… that’s right, bats bring us tequila and chocolate!
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Pallid bats are fierce little predators and usually eat scorpions and large insects. They are even immune to scorpion venom! But they have a sweet tooth, too.
About 20 years ago a researcher (W. Frick) discovered they were also regular night visitors to the flowers of cardon cacti. At first, they thought the bats were going after insects in the flowers, but soon documented that they were regularly feeding on the flower nectar (and the fruit).
These little cuties do not have the long muzzles and tongues found on most nectar feeding bats, so they just plunge their entire faces and torsos into the flower to access the nectar literally coating themselves with pollen. Their messy feeding habits are a boon to the cacti.
Their pollen covered faces and bodies actually end up delivering more pollen to the next flower they visit than the cardon cactus' primary pollinator species, the Lesser-nosed bat (a nectar and fruit eating bat). (FYl....the netting in the photo is from a mist net used by researchers to capture bats in the field)