This is one of Beepkins and Boopkins favorite places to go. We were shocked when this beautiful park didn't have any Caches in it, so we added the first of this series: The Pollinator. Then added "Another Pollinator", and "Still More Pollinators". This is another of that "series". Hope you stay a while and enjoy the park while you are here... maybe you will even see a few of these amazing pollinators!
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After dark, moths and bats take over the pollinator night shift.
Bats are very important pollinators in tropical and desert climates. Most flower-visiting bats are found in Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Islands.
Two species of nectar-feeding bats, the lesser long-nosed bat and the Mexican long-tongued bat, migrate north a thousand miles or more every spring from Mexico into Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. Both are listed as federally endangered species.
Over 300 species of fruit depend on bats for pollination. These fruits include: Mangoes, bananas, guavas, and the agave plant, and the Saguara. Without the agave plant, there would be no margaritas!
Bat Flowers:
- Open at night;
- Large in size (1 to 3.5 inches);
- Pale or white in color;
- Very fragrant, a fermenting or fruit-like odor; and/or
- Copious dilute nectar.
- Bats feed on the insects in the flowers as well as on the nectar and flower parts, such as calabash, sausage tree, areca palm, kapok tree, banana.