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Mexican Long-Tongued Bat

    Kingdom: Animalia
    Division: Chordata
    Subdivision: Vertebrata
    Class: Mammalia
    Subclass: Theria
    Infraclass: Eutheria
    Order: Chiroptera
    Suborder: Microchiroptera
    Family: Phyllostomidae
    Subfamily: Glossophaginae
    Genus: Choeronycteris
    Species: Choeronycteris mexicana

GBIF Distribution Map
(Choeronycteris mexicana)

A graphic of the world indicating distribution of Choeronycteris mexicana.
Distribution map graphic for Mexican long-tongued bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). (April 25, 2009).

View the interactive version on the GBIF Data Portal

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Word Helper

Dehiscence: the spontaneous opening at maturity of a plant structure, such as a fruit, anther, or sporangium, to release its contents.

Insectivorous: those who feed on insects and other invertebrates. 

Nectarivorous: those who feed on flower nectar. 

The Saguaro Cactus Needs Its Pollinators

A saguaro cactus in the desert.
A saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea). Photo courtesy of Audrey and George DeLange, http://www.delange.org/Saguaro/Saguaro.htm.

The saguaro cactus (Carnegia gigantea) is important to many desert animals. It provides habitat for the Gila woodpecker (Melanerpes uropygialis), gilded flicker (Colaptes chrysoides), red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis), and various insects and lizards. Many birds, bats, and insects feed on saguaro nectar and fruit. However, these relationships are not one-sided. The saguaro depends on these very same critters to fertilize it because it requires cross-pollination, pollen being delivered to a flower of a different plant. The saguaro has developed several characteristics to ensure that animals pollinate it. The cactus flowers on cooler desert nights in May and June when lesser long-nosed (Leptonycteris curaseae) and Mexican long-tongued (Choeronycteris mexicana) bats are migrating through the cacti's range, and the flowers remain open until mid-day allowing insects time to feed on the remaining nectar. Its flowers are creamy-white colored and have a strong scent, which attracts the nectarivorous bats. Its stamens form a circle at the top of a tube and sweet nectar accumulates at the bottom of this tube. This forces the pollinators to reach deep into the blossoms, causing their heads to be covered with pollen that they then transfer to other flowers while feeding. Other pollinators of the saguaro cactus include the white-winged dove (Zenaida asiatica), bees such as the saguaro cactus bee (Diadasia opuntiae) and honey bee (Apis mellifera), wasps, and butterflies. In fact the white-winged dove visits the saguaros more frequently than all other pollinators - all other pollinators, that is, except the honey bee which is believed to be the most frequent saguaro visitor. Interestingly, saguaros are the largest cactus in the United States, growing up to 50 feet, and living up to 200 years.

References: Use of saguaro fruit by white-winged doves: isotopic evidence of a tight ecological association (B. O. Wolf and C. Martinez del Rio In: Oecologia (2000) 124:536-543, Copyright Springer-Verlag 2000), Insects and the Saguaro (C. A. Olson, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum), and Saguaro Cactus Bees: Diadasia opuntiae (Saguaro Juniper Corporation)

The Lesser Long-Nosed Bat and
the Mexican Long-Tongued Bat,
Perfectly Adapted for Pollinating

A white, blooming saguaro cactus flower.
A saguaro cactus (Carnegiea gigantea)
bloom. Photo courtesy of
Audrey and George DeLange.

The lesser long-nosed (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) and Mexican long-tongued (Choeronycteris mexicana) bats are specifically adapted for feeding on and pollinating columnar cacti species throughout their ranges. Adaptations include an elongated muzzle, narrow snout, reduced dentition, and a brush-tipped tongue, all of which better enable the bats to reach inside the flowers to collect nectar. Also, the bats have specialized hairs on the face and neck that are flattened to carry pollen. These hairs become covered in large amounts of pollen as the bats reach deep inside the flowers. After returning to their roosts, the bats lick off and eat this pollen. However, during foraging the pollen is transferred from flower to flower. Columnar cacti have also evolved adaptations to attract the bats. Adaptations include flowers that are light in color making them easy for the bats to see; flowers that are erect, bowl-shaped, large-mouthed, and located at the top of the branches making it easier for the bats to feed on them; flowers that have a strong odor that the bats can smell; flowers that open nocturnally (known as dehiscense) when the bats are out foraging; and flowers that have high levels of pollen protein with relatively low levels of nectar sugar concentrations.

These bats feed and pollinate many different cacti species including saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea), organ-pipe cactus (Stenocereus thurberi), agaves (Agave spp.), and cardon (Pachycereus pringlei). It has been demonstrated that the lesser long-nosed bat and Palmer's agave have a mutualistic relationship. Studies have also shown that viejo (Cephalocereus hoppenstedtii) and the branched columnar cactus tetecho (Neobauxbaumia tetetzo) only produce fruit when pollinated by one or both of these bat species.

References: Celebrating Wildflowers: Lesser Long-Nosed Bat (United States Department of Agriculture Forest Service), Lesser Long-Nosed Bat (Leptonycteris curasoae yerbabuenae) (Center for Biological Diversity), Lesser Long-Nosed Bat Recovery Plan (United States Fish and Wildlife Service), Nectar-Feeding Bats in the Columnar Cacti Forests of Central Mexico (A.Valiente-Banuet, M. del Coro Arizmendi, and A. Rojas-Martinez, In: BATS Magazine, 1996,  vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 12-15) , and Gap Analysis of Pollinator (bats, bees, hummingbirds) Species Richness in Arizona: Implications for Conservation Biology (S. Buchmann, M. R. Kunzmann, A. J. Donovan,and R. J. Hobbs)

Mexican Long-Tongued Bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) Resources
Showing 16 Results
CollapseBats and Agaves
Description: This website describes agaves (Agave sp.) and their pollination by a number of bat species.
Resource Type: Life Histories and Species Profiles
Resource Format: URL
Publisher: Bats, Plants, and People
ExpandBats and Columnar Cacti
ExpandBats in Abandoned Mines
ExpandChoeronycteris mexicana: Mexican Long-tongued Bat
ExpandChoeronycteris mexicana: Mexican Long-tongued Bat
ExpandDigital Distribution Maps of the Mammals of the Western Hemisphere Version 2.0 for Order of Chiroptera and Family of Phyllostomidae
ExpandDigital Distribution Maps of the Mammals of the Western Hemisphere Version 2.0 for Order of Chiroptera and Family of Phyllostomidae
ExpandIntegrated Taxonomic Information System Report: Choeronycteris mexicana
ExpandMammalian Species: Choeronycteris mexicana
ExpandMexican Long-tongued Bat: Choeronycteris mexicana
ExpandNectar Bats of Southeastern Arizona
ExpandNectar-Feeding Bats in the Columnar Cacti Forests of Central Mexico
ExpandNew world leaf-nosed bats (Phyllostomidae) Potential Distribution Map Services
ExpandRecurrence of Mexican long-tongued bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) at historical sites in Arizona and New Mexico Case Study
ExpandWhite-Nose Syndrome Threatens the Survival of Hibernating Bats in North America
ExpandWildlife Fact Sheets

My What a Long Tongue You Have

Mexican long-tongued bat
Choeronycteris mexicana

Description: The Mexican long-tongued bat has short ears, a long, narrow rostrum, big eyes, a minute tail, and a leaf-like projection of skin above the nostrils called a nose leaf. It is a medium sized bat that weighs about 25 grams and is between 3 and 3.5 inches long. The fur is gray to brown above and lighter on the underside. The tongue of the Mexican long-tongued bat extends up to 1/3 of its body length.

Life History: Mexican long-tongued bats migrate northward beginning in May and breed in the summer in the northern part of their range. A single pup is born in late June or early July, and females use caves, mines, rock crevices, and abandoned buildings as maternity roosts. The pup stays with its mother until it can fly, about two to three weeks after birth. Migration southward occurs in October and November. These bats typically roost individually or in groups of 15 or fewer. However, roosts with up to 50 bats have been documented. During cooler temperatures the bats hang in a cluster; during warmer temperatures they remain one to two inches apart in the roost. The bats are most active 1.5 hours after sunset and then again 3 hours after sunset. These bats feed primarily on the nectar and pollen of night blooming flowers of agaves and columnar cacti. Their long tongues aid in removing flower nectar. They may also eat the fruit of columnar cacti and take incidental insects. They have also been seen at hummingbird feeders and eating ornamental vegetation.

Habitat: This bat lives in a variety of habitats, including desert, semidesert grassland, montane, riparian, tropical deciduous forests, and urban environments. The bat is most frequently found roosting in desert canyons, but also in deep caves, mines, rock crevices, and abandoned buildings.

Distribution: This species is common throughout Mexico. Its range extends through Central and northern South America and to the southern parts of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. However, it is rare in the United States.

Status: The Mexican long-tongued bat is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and is listed as a species of concern by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. It is the only nectarivorous bat that is not endangered. However, fewer than 400 bats of this species have been seen in the United States in the last 100 years. Caving, mine closures, mine reclamation, and loss of food sources due to development, prescribed fires, and grazing threaten this species.

Resources: Choeronycteris mexicana: Mexican Long-tongued Bat (Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History)

Choeronycteris mexicana: Mexican Long-Tongued Bat (Shelly Charron, Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan Museum of Zoology)

Mexican Long-Tongued Bat (Choeronycteris mexicana) (Texas Parks and Wildlife)

Mammalian Species: Choeronycteris mexicana (J. Arroyo-Cabrales, R. R. Hollander, J. K. Jones, Jr. In: Mammalian Species, No. 291, pp. 1-5, August 12, 1987, The American Society of Mammalogists)

Recurrence of Mexican long-tongued bats (Choeronycteris mexicana) at historical sites in Arizona and New Mexico (United States Geological Survey)

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