Thread by @GiveBatsABreak

E day for #BatABC and I didn’t want to be THAT guy. I didn’t. But here we are.

Ectophylla alba

Everyone’s favorite forbidden neotropical marshmallow, the Honduran white bat has a striking appearance which perfectly hides it in its leaf tents

©️Konrad Wothe
©️Piotr Naskrecki

“How is white and yellow perfect for hiding it in a green leaf?” So glad you’re here to ask the important questions. When light filters through the Heliconia, it casts a green hue over the bats’ white fur

giving it a green appearance and the ears and nose leaves look like yellowing bits of leaf. When a predator looks up from below, it is likely that all they will see is a sad, droopy bit of foliage!

Unless that predator happens to be Buddy the Elf in which case it's game over

Notice that, like many good predators, Buddy combines the same colors as its prey: yellow, white, green, and black with just a shock of red

He sneaks up on betwinkled toes and *yoink*