Artibeus jamaicensis
Jamaican fruit-eating bat

central Mexico to Bolivia and central Brazil through the Greater and Lesser Antilles

The Mexican fruit bat is known from moist open areas and roosts in buildings and caves in addition to tents made from the leaves of plants.

The genus Artibeus is characterized by four white facial stripes, pointed ears, and soft, short fur of a dull brownish, grayish, or black silver-tinged color, and paler underparts. This bat has no external tail and a narrow interfemoral membrane.

It is believed that A. jamaicencis has a harem-like social structure in which groups of adult females are never found roosting with more than one adult male. Tree hollow roosts have been found with a single adult male and three to fourteen females and young. Young, solitary, non-harem males are found in foliage roosts or cave roosts in groups of one to three individuals. Males defend tree hollow roosts containing females during the birth season so that they will be able to mate with the females during their post-partum estrous. Young dispersing females do not form new social groups, but instead join existing harems. Groups of A. jamaicencis respond to the distress calls of a captured individual by mobbing the captor. Perhaps this mobbing behavior is effective against opossums, which are known predators of the Mexican fruit bat.

Artibeus jamaicencis is one of fifteen species of neotropical bats and three species of paleotropical bats known to exhibit an extremely interesting behavior, that of tent-making. It is thought that these bats modify the structure of vascular plants by biting the plant's midrib or veins, which causes the leaf fronds or leaflets to collapse into the form of a semi-enclosed 'tent.' Artibeus jamaicencis uses plants in the families Araceae and Palmae for this purpose.

Artibeus jamaicencis is primarily frugivorous but also feeds on nectar, pollen, flower parts, and insects. The fruits eaten by this bat include figs, mangos, avocados, bananas, espave nuts, and the pulp around the seeds of Acromia palms. One study observed that figs were the primary, if not the only, food eaten in all of the study sites. Individuals of this species make frequent flights during the night in search of food. Females in Jalisco, Mexico flew 8 kilometers to forage, approximately thirteen times the distance that females flew on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. Artibeus jamaicencis does not fly in flocks to forage. Instead, each bat arrives at a feeding site, feeds, and departs independently from the others. Food is carried to night feeding roosts and, towards morning, to regular roosts. Fruit seeds from bat droppings accumulate under the roosts.

As food passes through the digestive system of A. jamaicencis in approximately 15 to 20 minutes, it is unlikely that this bat uses microbial fermentation to aid in the breakdown of ingesta.

Artibeus jamaicencis may affect fruit production by feeding on cultivated fruit crops.

Artibeus jamaicencis is a frugivorous bat with a gut throughput time of about 15 to 20 minutes, little or no microbial fermentation, and feeding habits that include frequent night forays. As a result, this bat is extremely important in the dispersal of tropical fruit seeds.

Histochemical analysis of muscle tissue from A. jamaicencis shows that this species has two different forms of fast-twitch flight muscle. These forms essentially act as a two-gear system that perhaps adds versatility to the otherwise relatively limited manueverability of this bat's flight.