Ingenious design of tent roosts by Peters's tent-making bat,Uroderma bilobatum(Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

Abstract

All previously known bat tents are made up with single leaves. A new type of tent constructed by Peters's tent-making bat (Uroderma bilobatum) using multiple leaves of young Coccoloba manzanillensis and possibly Genipa americana on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, is reported. Bats constructed the conical tent resembling a tepee by severing the midribs of the lowermost leaves farthest from the tree trunk and those of the upper leaves gradually closer to the trunk. As a result, the upper leaves collapsed on top of the leaves directly below and the whole structure became tightly sealed. Bats used most or all leaves (range 6–14) in a tree, starting almost always from the bottommost leaf. The tent was occupied by a single, or occasionally two, adult male(s) hanging from one of the bottom three leaves. The structural ingenuity of the tent plus its sophisticated repair suggests a complex bat behaviour.