Post by jonsdigs on Mar 14, 2007 12:13:58 GMT -5
Tiny bat key to survival for two other species
Whangarei Leader (NZ)
Tuesday, 13 March 2007
BIZARRE BAT: The northern lesser short-tailed bat feeds off the ground and supports a rare parasitic plant and blind fly. J.L KENDRICK /Whangarei Leader
Mystery surrounds the lesser short-tailed bat, found in selected sites in Northland.
The native mammal is nationally endangered but it is unknown exactly how many there are in Northland, says Conservation Department biodiversity ranger Bryce Lummis.
New Zealand has three bat species - the greater short-tailed bat, which is thought to be extinct, the lesser short-tailed bat and the long-tailed bat.
The lesser short-tailed bat (Mystacinidae tuberculata) is an ancient species unique to New Zealand and is the only known surviving member of the Mystacinidae family.
Mr Lummis says the lesser short-tailed bat needs protecting because it supports a rare plant and a unique fly. It is the main pollinator of dactylanthus woodrose, a rare parasitic plant that grows on the roots of trees.
The bat also has a unique relationship with a blind, wingless fly, which stays on the bat and lives off its droppings, he says. The unusual fly is only found on the short-tailed bat and is also threatened.
"Here we have three species, all threatened, all related to each other," Mr Lummis says.
The lesser short-tailed bat has a number of other interesting characteristics. It is one of the few bats in the world that spends a lot of time on the forest floor, doing most of their feeding on the ground.
"They crawl on the ground and do short flying skips on the ground," says Mr Lummis. That makes the bats vulnerable to rats and other predators, he says.
The nocturnal bat eats insects and fruit and nests in tree hollows.
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