Northern Blossom Bat
Scientific name: Macroglossus minimus
Click to enlarge image
Northern Blossom Bat
Image: R & A Williams
© Australian Museum
© Australian Museum
Fast Facts
-
Classification
- Genus
- Macroglossus
- Species
- minimus
- Family
- Pteropodidae
- Order
- Chiroptera
- Subclass
- Eutheria
- Subphylum
- Vertebrata
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Kingdom
- Animalia
Introduction
Northern Blossom Bats are important pollinators of many native Australian plants. In northeastern Queensland they also appear to pollinate commercially grown durian tees.
Habitat
Northern Blossom Bats hang in palms, bamboos, mangroves, and trees in monsoon forests and rainforests. They roost alone or in small groups under loose bark, within hollows or among leafy crowns and leaf bases.
Distribution
Feeding and diet
Northern Blossom Bats feed mainly on nectar and pollen from the flowers of eucalypts, paperbarks, bottlebrushes, lilli pillies and mangrove trees. In northeastern Queensland they also eat fruit and possibly leaves.
Conservation status
Northern Blossom Bats are vulnerable to loss of feeding areas from clearing of native vegetation and land degradation from agriculture.
