The common blossom bat, Syconycteris australis, also known as the southern blossom bat or Queensland blossom bat is a megabat in the family Pteropodidae.
The common blossom bat feeds mostly on nectar and pollen rather than fruit. They are only 60 mm long, most likely to aid them in collecting pollen and nectar. S. australis change roosts daily unlike many of the larger species. The common blossom bat only enemy is the honeybee. It is one of eight Pteropodidae species in Australia. It is the smallest fruit bat.
Famous quotes containing the words common and/or blossom:
“But neither milk-white rose nor red
May bloom in prison air;
The shard, the pebble, and the flint,
Are what they give us there:
For flowers have been known to heal
A common man’s despair.”
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)
“Where the bee sucks, there suck I,
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily.
Merrily, merrily shall I live now,
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)