Photographer Page

Merlin Tuttle

The colors of painted woolly bats camouflage them as they roost in the dead tip of a banana leaf.

Painted woolly bats are known for their bright orange-and-black coloring, hues that help them blend well with leaves in their surroundings—but also pique buyers’ interest.

A pollen-covered bat emerges from a flower of the blue mahoe tree in Cuba. This photo appeared in a March 2014 story showing the fascinating relationship between some tropical flowers and pollinating bats.

A bat dives down on a red-eyed tree frog in Barro Colorado Island, a wildlife preserve in Panama.

An orange nectar bat extends a long, nimble tongue to rob a bromeliad flower of nectar. Like a hummingbird, the bat hovers near the flower long enough to insert its tongue and lap up the flower's sweet reward.

A bat gets a fresh dusting of pollen while trying to eat the nectar of a blue mahoe tree in Cuba. In Mexico, bats are important pollinators of agave, which is used to make tequila. The next time you have a margarita, remember to thank a bat!

Not all bats eat bugs, or blood. Some prefer flower pollen, which they pass from tree to tree. In fact, some plants are pollinated exclusively by bats.