Bats (Chiroptera)Black Flying-Fox (Pteropus alecto) Finlayson’s Cave Bat (Vespadelus finlaysoni) Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) Little Red Flying-Fox (Pteropus scapulatus)
The Black Flying-Fox (Pteropus alecto), is also known as the Black Fruit Bat, in the family Pteropodidae (Old World Fruit Bats) and the subfamily Pteropodinae (Flying-foxes, Monkey-faced Bats and Allies). The Black Flying-Fox is among the largest bats in the world, although smaller then the largest species in the genus Pteropus.
The Black Flying-Fox is native to Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Indonesia. In Australia, their range include New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, and Western Australia.
They roost in large numbers (colonies or ‘camps’) during the day, with groups that can number hundreds to tens of thousands of individuals. They are also known to share their roosts with the Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus), the Spectacled Flying Fox (Pteropus conspicillatus), and the Little Red Flying Fox (Pteropus scapulatus). They roost in mangroves, paperbark swamps, rainforest and bamboo forests, and occasionally, although rarely in caves or underneath overhangs.
Black Flying-Foxes eat pollen and nectar from native eucalyptus, lilypillies, paperbark, and turpentine trees. If their native food is scarce, such as during periods of drought, the bats may eat commercial fruits, such as apples and mangos. In residential areas, they have adapted to eating introduced cocos palm trees as a substitute for scarcer native species, although the high acidity of the palm fruits can prove toxic and may lead to death.
Whilst the Black Flying-Fox is not currently listed as threatened, threats can come from a number places, such as loss of foraging and roosting habitat, and extreme temperature events that can cause mass die-offs.
- Scientific classification
- Kingdom: Animalia
- Phylum: Chordata
- Subphylum: Vertebrata
- Informal: Gnathostomata
- Class: Mammalia
- Subclass: Eutheria
- Order: Chiroptera
- Suborder: Yinpterochiroptera
- Superfamily: Pteropodoidea
- Family: Pteropodidae
- Genus: Pteropus
- Species: Pteropus alecto
Footnote & References
- Black Flying-Fox (Pteropus alecto) © Tony Eales
- Black Flying-Fox (Pteropus alecto) © Marc Newman
- Pteropus alecto Temminck, 1837, Black Flying-Fox, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/Pteropus alecto
- Chiroptera, Atlas of Living Australia, https://bie.ala.org.au/species/CHIROPTERA
Bats (Chiroptera)Black Flying-Fox (Pteropus alecto) Finlayson’s Cave Bat (Vespadelus finlaysoni) Ghost Bat (Macroderma gigas) Little Red Flying-Fox (Pteropus scapulatus)
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