小長鼻蝠 Lessser long-nosed bat by B班 Brigitta－豐顏風語集 :親子「話」「畫」英文童書繪本

Lesser long-nosed bat 小長鼻蝠

Description

Lesser long-nosed bat are relatively small bats, with a total length as adults of around 8 cm (3.1 in), and weighing between 15 and 25 grams (0.53 and 0.88 oz), depending on the time of year. Males and females are similar in size, and virtually indistinguishable. (體型總長8公分，重約15-25公克，公與母體型相似)

As their common name implies, they have a long, narrow snout, and this terminates in a small triangular nose-leaf. While they do have three internal caudal vertebrae, they have no visible tail. (如其名稱，有長又窄的吻狀突起，在突起終端有小小的三角形鼻葉。有三節體內尾狀椎骨，但看不出來有尾巴)

The tongue of lesser long-nosed bats has a number of adaptations for lapping nectar, including long ridges and rough, conical papillae, which may also help protect against periodontal disease by scraping the teeth clean.(舌頭有數個適應器可舔仙人掌)

Their wings have a high wing loading, allowing for energy efficient long-distance flight in open habitats, at the expense of manoeuvrability.

Adult lesser long-nosed bats are yellow-brown or grey above, with rusty brown fur below. Their ears are small.

Distribution and habitat

Lesser long-nosed bats inhabit semi-arid grassland, scrub, or forest habitats below about 550 metres (1,800 ft). They are able to tolerate unusually high temperatures of up to 41 °C (106 °F), due in part to a low metabolic rate. They do not enter torpor or hibernate, but die at ambient temperatures of below about 10 °C (50 °F).(居住在低於550公尺的半乾旱的青草地、灌木叢或森林。因為較低的新陳代謝率，可不尋常地忍耐的溫度是41度C，但卻會死亡於低於10度C)

In the north, they reach southern California, Arizona and New Mexico. However, they are only found as summer migrants in the United States and, more generally, north of the mid-Sonora, arriving in these regions between April and July, and migrating south again in September. (夏季遷徙美國，9月分再遷徙南部、墨西哥). Some individuals have been estimated to migrate as far as 1,600 kilometres (990 mi) each year. (每隻蝙蝠每年遷徙約1600公里). They are found year-round in the western and southern parts of Mexico, and long the east coast, and in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras.

There are no recognised subspecies.

Diet and behavior

Lesser long-nosed bats feed mainly on nectar from night-blooming plants such as saguaro, Organ Pipe Cactus, as well as century plant and other agaves. They are important pollinators of night-blooming cactus. They may also eat some cactus fruits, and, during the winter, on pollen from a range of other plants as the opportunity arises. (主要食物來源是夜間開花植物，如Saguaro等. 蝙蝠是仙人掌夜間開花植物的重要花粉傳播者。

Lesser long-nosed bats roost during the day in large colonies of up to several thousand individuals in caves or abandoned mines, dispersing at night to feed.(晝伏夜出的習性). The size and composition of such colonies varies throughout the year, as the bats migrate to summer feeding grounds. At some times of the year, many colonies become occupied only by nursing females and their young, with males occupying smaller temporary roosts.

Reproduction

The breeding season lasts from November to December for bats that migrate northward during the summer, but from May to June in those that give birth in the south. (養育季節從11-12月，到夏季北遷，但從5-6月則在南方生育). Despite the presence of two distinct mating seasons, individual bats mate only once a year. Gestation lasts about six months, and results in the birth of a single pup, during the time of local peak flower availability.

Newborn young weigh 4 to 7 grams (0.14 to 0.25 oz) and are fully weaned at four to eight weeks of age. They are able fly after a month, but do not begin to exit the maternity cave for a further two to three weeks. They are known to live for up to at least eight years in the wild.

1988年小長鼻蝙蝠處境危險，當時美國和墨西哥存活的圖類蝙蝠還不到1000隻，在生物學家和公民科學家的努力，目前已經增長到超過20萬隻。蝙蝠有重要的能力: