The Antillean Fruit-eating Bat (Brachyphylla cavernarum) is one of two leaf-nosed bat

Leaf-nosed bat

The New World leaf-nosed bats are found throughout Central and South America, from Mexico to northern Argentina. They are ecologically the most varied and diverse family within the order Chiroptera...

 species belonging to the Brachyphylla genus. The species occurs in the Caribbean

Caribbean

The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...

 from Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

 to St. Vincent

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines is an island country in the Lesser Antilles chain, namely in the southern portion of the Windward Islands, which lie at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea where the latter meets the Atlantic Ocean....

 and Barbados

Barbados

Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...

. Fossil specimens have also been recorded from New Providence, Bahamas.

Taxonomy

Three subspecies of Brachyphylla cavernarum are recognized. Brachyphylla cavernarum cavernarum is the largest of the subspecies and occurs from St. Croix

Saint Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint Croix is an island in the Caribbean Sea, and a county and constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. Formerly the Danish West Indies, they were sold to the United States by Denmark in the Treaty of the Danish West Indies of...

 to St. Vincent. Brachyphylla cavernarum intermedia is of intermediate size and occurs in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

United States Virgin Islands

The Virgin Islands of the United States are a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...

 with the exception of St. Croix. Brachyphylla cavernarum minor occurs in Barbados and is characterized by its small size.

Physical description

The Antillean Fruit-eating Bat has white to yellow-white hair at the base with darker coloration in the dorsum

Dorsum (biology)

In anatomy, the dorsum is the upper side of animals that typically run, fly, or swim in a horizontal position, and the back side of animals that walk upright. In vertebrates the dorsum contains the backbone. The term dorsal refers to anatomical structures that are either situated toward or grow...

. Mature individuals measure from 65 to 118  millimeters (2½ to 4⅝ inches) with a forearm length ranges of 51 to 69 millimeters (2 to 2¾ inches) in length. The average weight is 45 grams (1⅝ ounces).

Ecology

The Antillean Fruit-eating Bat occurs in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and the Lesser Antilles

Lesser Antilles

The Lesser Antilles are a long, partly volcanic island arc in the Western Hemisphere. Most of its islands form the eastern boundary of the Caribbean Sea with the Atlantic Ocean, with the remainder located in the southern Caribbean just north of South America...

 up to St. Vincent and Barbados. Individuals roost in a variety of settings which include unused buildings, caves, dense tree tops, crevices, large wells, and cliffs. Sites without direct sunlight are preferred by the species although large colonies have been found in sunlit areas. The species occurs in dry arborescent vegetation on St. John

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saint John is an island in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent district of the United States Virgin Islands , an unincorporated territory of the United States. St...

.

The Antillean Fruit-eating Bat has a varied diet which includes fruits, pollen, nectar, and insects. Fruits consumed in the wild include papaya

Papaya

The papaya , papaw, or pawpaw is the fruit of the plant Carica papaya, the sole species in the genus Carica of the plant family Caricaceae...

, mango

Mango

The mango is a fleshy stone fruit belonging to the genus Mangifera, consisting of numerous tropical fruiting trees in the flowering plant family Anacardiaceae. The mango is native to India from where it spread all over the world. It is also the most cultivated fruit of the tropical world. While...

, Indian almond, manjack (Cordia

Cordia

Cordia is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae. It contains about 300 species of shrubs and trees, which are found worldwide mostly in warmer regions. Many of the species are commonly called manjack, while bocote may refer to several Central American species in Spanish...

 spp.), royal palm, and sapodilla

Sapodilla

Manilkara zapota, commonly known as the sapodilla, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatan in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species...

. In captivity the species has been observed consuming bananas, apples, pears, melons, peaches, and the flowers of the Kapok

Kapok

Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae , native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and to tropical west Africa...

, sausage tree, royal palm, portia tree

Portia tree

Thespesia populnea, commonly known as the Portia Tree , is species of flowering plant in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a small tree or arborescent shrub that has a pantropical distribution, found on coasts around the world. However, the Portia Tree is probably native only to the Old World,...

, and Jatobá

Jatobá

Hymenaea courbaril is a tree common to the Caribbean, Central, and South America. It is a hardwood that is used for furniture, flooring and decorative purposes....

. Confirmed insects consumed include one mite

Mite

Mites, along with ticks, are small arthropods belonging to the subclass Acari and the class Arachnida. The scientific discipline devoted to the study of ticks and mites is called acarology.-Diversity and systematics:...

 species (Macronyssidae

Macronyssidae

Macronyssidae is a family of parasitic mites in the order Mesostigmata.-Genera:Arachnyssus Ma Liming, 2002* Arachnyssus guangxiensis Ma Liming, 2002* Arachnyssus huwenae Ma-Liming, 2002Argitis Yunker & Saunders, 1973...

), two batfly species (Streblidae

Streblidae

Streblidae are flies in the superfamily Hippoboscoidea, and together with their relatives the Nycteribiidae are known as "bat flies". They are winged or wingless ectoparasites of bats, and often have long legs...

), one tick species (Argasidae

Argasidae

Argasidae is a family of ticks containing the soft ticks. They lack the hard scutum that is present in the hard ticks . The capitulum is located on the underside of the animal's body and is not readily visible...

), and two bat-mite species (Labidocarpidae). These bats feed in the canopy of the forest and in the ground.

Behavior

The Antillean Fruit-eating Bat move out from the roost synchronically one hour after sunset and 20 minutes after the Jamaican fruit bat

Jamaican fruit bat

The Jamaican, Common or Mexican fruit bat is a fruit bat native to Central and South America, as well as the Greater and many of the Lesser Antilles. It is also an uncommon resident of the Southern Bahamas...

(Artibeus jamaicensis). This synchronization is also evident when returning to the roosts which happens just before the break of dawn.