The cave nectar bat, dawn bat, common dawn bat, common nectar bat or lesser dawn bat (''Eonycteris spelaea'') is a species of megabat within the genus ''

Eonycteris ''Eonycteris'' ("dawn bat") is a genus of megabats found in Asia. They are the only members of the tribe Eonycterini. Species within this genus are: * Greater nectar bat, ''Eonycteris major'' *Cave nectar bat The cave nectar bat, dawn bat, co ...

''. The scientific name of the species was first published by Dobson in 1871.

Description

The upper parts of the cave nectar bat are grey-brown to dark brown to black. The underparts are paler and the neck is sometimes yellowish brown. The muzzle of this bat is elongated, and particularly adapted for drinking

nectar Nectar is a sugar-rich liquid produced by plants in glands called nectaries or nectarines, either within the flowers with which it attracts pollinating animals, or by extrafloral nectaries, which provide a nutrient source to animal mutualists ...

. The species has as well an external tail. The head and body length measures , the tail length is about and the forearm length measures

Habits and habitat

The cave nectar bat is found in

primary forests An old-growth forestalso termed primary forest, virgin forest, late seral forest, primeval forest, or first-growth forestis a forest that has attained great age without significant disturbance, and thereby exhibits unique ecological feature ...

and in disturbed and agricultural areas. It roosts in caves, in larger groups, with some roosts exceeding 50,000 individuals, and it sometimes roosts with other bat species. In some places, this species seems to have adapted well to leafy, semi-urban habitats. Due to its large roosting size it has an IUCN status of "least concerned" however, only limited data is available on population size and trends. ''E. spelaea'' travels many kilometres each night in search of the nectar of flowering trees and shrubs. Because of that, this bat species is a very important pollinator of fruit trees, such as

durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the onl ...

s, notably '' Durio zibethinus'' and '' Durio graveolens''. It also feeds on and pollinates other commercially important crops such as banana ('' Musa spp''.) and jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''). In addition to pollinating these plants, the cave nectar bat is an important pollinator for major crops, including up to 55 species of plants. Their tendencies to pollinate certain plants is determined by the proximity of their living quarters. There are at least thirteen plant taxa that the cave nectar bat feeds upon. The dependence on the proximity of the plants explain the variation of which plants that the cave nectar bats pollinate and feed upon. For this reason, ''E. spelaea'' is seen as an important species for pollination in disturbed areas bordering on urban and agricultural farms.

Distribution

''E. spelaea'' lives in Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia ( Java,

Kalimantan Kalimantan () is the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo. It constitutes 73% of the island's area. The non-Indonesian parts of Borneo are Brunei and East Malaysia. In Indonesia, "Kalimantan" refers to the whole island of Borneo. In 2019, ...

Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...

and some other small islands),

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

, Malaysia,

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, India and Timor-Leste. It had been previously recorded from

Gomantong Caves The Gomantong Caves are an intricate cave system inside Gomantong Hill in Sandakan Division, Sabah, Malaysia. The hill is the largest limestone outcrop in the Lower Kinabatangan area. Description Situated in the Gomantong Forest Reserve, the c ...

Sukau Sukau is a state constituency in Sabah, Malaysia, that is represented in the Sabah State Legislative Assembly The Sabah State Legislative Assembly ( ms, Dewan Undangan Negeri Sabah, Kadazandusun language, Kadazandusun: ''Langga' Tinukuan Pogu ...

, Segama, and Madai in Sabah; Niah, Sungai Tinjar, and

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...

in Sarawak; and Sungai Tengah and Kutai in

Conservation

This species is killed for

bushmeat Bushmeat is meat from wildlife species that are hunted for human consumption, most often referring to the meat of game in Africa. Bushmeat represents a primary source of animal protein and a cash-earning commodity for inhabitants of humid tropi ...

in Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.

Research

The genome of ''Eonycteris spelaea'' was recently sequenced using PacBio long-read sequencing. As a small, frugivorous, specialist nectar-feeding bat with good flight potential and that can breed 1-2 times a year, it is an ideal species as an animal model for bats. Recent evidence has shown this species can carry multiple viruses such as filoviruses,

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

es, astrovirus, picornavirus, lyssavirus, pteropine orthoreovirus and flavivirus, all without obvious signs of disease.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cave nectar bat Cave nectar Cave nectar Cave nectar Cave nectar Mammals of Borneo Mammals of Brunei Mammals of Myanmar Mammals of India Mammals of Cambodia Mammals of China Mammals of Laos Mammals of the Philippines Mammals of Singapore Mammals of Vietnam Mammals of Thailand Cave nectar bat Cave nectar bat Cave nectar bat Least concern biota of Asia Cave nectar bat Bats as food Bats of India