Chiropterophily
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Title
Chiropterophily
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Definition
Pollination by bats. There are two main types of bat pollinaton. In one type the bats are relatively small and capable of hovering in front of flowers, these bats occupy the same nich occupied by hummingbirds during the day and belong to the subfamily Glossophaginae. Most of the flowers pollinated by this group of bats have tubular or bell-shaped flowers but they do visit flowers of the other type as well. In the other type, the bats land on the flowers and consist of many flowers aggregated into heads (e.g., species of Parkia) or are brush-like (e.g., Pseudobombax munguba).
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Related Terms
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