Fruit Bats: A Complete Guide to Pteropodidae

What Are Fruit Bats?

Fruit bats are the common name for megabats of the family Pteropodidae — the only family within the suborder Megachiroptera. With approximately 170 recognized species distributed across Africa, Asia, and Oceania, fruit bats represent an extraordinary diversity of Old World flying mammals.

These bats are also called Old World fruit bats or, more specifically, Megachiropteran fruit bats. They inhabit hot, tropical, and subtropical regions and make their roosts in trees, shrubs, and caves. You will not find wild fruit bats living in temperate regions like North America or Europe.

Diet: What Do Fruit Bats Eat?

Most fruit bats are primarily frugivorous — they consume fruit from nearly 188 different plant genera. Some species are also nectarivorous, meaning they drink nectar from flowers. Fruit bats are prodigious eaters and can consume up to 2.5 times their own body weight in fruit per night.

• Fruits from tropical trees, including figs, mangoes and papayas
• Nectar and pollen from flowering plants, especially Eucalyptus in Australia
• Leaves, shoots, buds and seed pods as supplementary food
• Some species consume bark, twigs and sap

Size Range

Fruit bats range enormously in size. The smallest megabat, the spotted-winged fruit bat (Balionycteris maculata), weighs only 14.2 g, while the largest flying foxes weigh over 1 kg. About 28% of megabat species weigh less than 50 g.

Ecological Importance

Fruit bats play two essential ecological roles. As seed dispersers, frugivorous bats carry fruit and either spit out seeds or digest them and excrete them elsewhere, directly aiding forest regeneration. As pollinators, nectarivorous bats carry pollen between flowers, enabling reproduction in many tropical plant species. This bat-plant relationship is known as chiropterophily.

Conservation & Further Reading

Megabats face significant threats from habitat destruction, hunting, and climate change. A quarter of all Pteropodidae species are listed as threatened by the IUCN. Their low reproductive rates mean that population recovery is slow after decline events. Supporting tropical forest conservation is the most effective way to protect megabat diversity.

For more information about specific types of megabats, explore the related guides below or visit the Pteropodidae family overview for a complete species list.