Leaf-Nosed Bats are seen inside a Mayan temple in Peten, Guatemala. The New World leaf-nosed bats Phyllostomidae are found from southern North America to South America, specifical from Mexico to northern Argentina. They are ecological the most varied and diverse fami within the order Chiroptera. Most species are insectivorous, but the phyllostomid bats include within their number, true predatory species and frugivores. For example, the spectral bat Vampyrum spectrum, the largest bat in the Americas, eats vertebrate prey, including small, dove-sized birds. Members of this fami have evolved to use food groups such as fruit, nectar, pollen, insects, frogs, other bats, and small vertebrates, and in the case of the vampire bats, even blood. Both the scientific and common names derive from their often large, lance-shaped noses, great reduced in some of the nectar and pollen-feeders. Because these bats echolocate nasal, this `nose-leaf` is thought to serve some role in modifnd directing the echolocation call. Similar nose leaves are found in some other groups of bats, most notab the Old World leaf-nosed bats. New World leaf-nosed bats are usual brown, grey, or black, although five species are white. Most roost in fair small groups within caves, animal burrows, or hollow trees, although some species aggregate in colonies of several hundred individuals. They do not hibernate, although some species have been reported to aestivate.
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