White-winged vampire bat
| White-winged vampire bat | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Diaemus youngi | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Chiroptera |
| Family: | Phyllostomidae |
| Subfamily: | Desmodontinae |
| Genus: |
Diaemus Miller, 1906 |
| Species: | D. youngi |
| Binomial name | |
|
Diaemus youngi Jentink, 1893 |
|
The white-winged vampire bat (Diaemus youngi), a species of vampire bat, is the only member of the genus Diaemus. They are found from Mexico to northern Argentina and are present on the islands of Trinidad and Margarita. In Trinidad, up to thirty Diaemus bats were found in a hollow immortelle tree, and one was found in a well-lit cave, along with Desmodus rotundus and Saccopteryx bilineata. Flying individuals are easily identified by their white wingtips.
They seem to prefer the blood of birds to that of mammals, and usually feed while hanging on the underside of a branch. Not surprisingly, they do not perform the flight-initiating jumps that characterize the common vampire bat, Desmodus rotundus. Though not as agile on the ground as the common vampire bat, they are quite proficient at climbing branches. White-winged vampires are much more docile around human beings than common vampire bats, and are also extremely vocal in the audible range.
They have two large oral glands:
This bat carries infectious disease, including rabies, in Trinidad.
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