Found from southern Mexico through Central America and into the northern parts of South America, this small fruit bat is only about the size of a human thumb. Its fur is soft and grayish-brown, with lighter underparts, and it has a distinctive pale stripe running down its face and back. Like many leaf-nosed bats, it sports a fleshy nose-leaf that helps focus echolocation calls. Though it might look ordinary at first glance, the tent-making bat has earned its fame through its unique architectural skill and clever adaptation to life in the rainforest.

Its extraordinary ability to build “tents” out of leaves sets this species apart. Using their sharp teeth, these bats chew along the veins of large leaves—especially palms and banana plants—causing them to fold down into a protective canopy. The altered leaves create a shady, sheltered roost that keeps the bats safe from heavy rain, tropical sun, and predators. A single tent often houses a small colony, usually with one male and several females, and the group may remain there until the leaf withers and collapses. When that happens, the bats simply move on and build another. This leaf-engineering behavior is so iconic that it gave the species its common name and has earned it the title of “forest architect.”

Unlike insect-eating bats, which rely heavily on echolocation to hunt, tent-making bats feed mostly on fruit such as figs, guavas, and other soft tropical fruits. As they travel from tree to tree and drop seeds in new places, they act as key seed dispersers, helping maintain the richness of the rainforest. Their role is so important that many tropical plant species rely heavily on bats like these to regenerate and spread.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Bolivia

2019

Brazil

2019

Colombia

2019

Ecuador

2019

French Guiana

2019

Guyana

2019

Peru

2019

Suriname

2019

Trinidad & Tobago

2019

Venezuela

2019