Lesser Long-nosed Bat

Also known as Sanborn's Long-nosed Bat

Lesser long-nosed bats are crucial nocturnal pollinators that follow a nectar corridor of flowering agaves and cacti from southern Mexico into the American Southwest each spring. Their long, brush-tipped tongues extract nectar and pollen from columnar blooms, dusting their fur and facilitating cross-pollination across arid landscapes. Female bats gather by the tens of thousands in maternity caves where they raise single pups in dense, warm nurseries before migrating south for winter.