The silky short-tailed bat has a generalist diet, consuming fruits, flowers and insects plucked from foliage (1) (2) (5). It feeds on a variety of fruits, although the slender, candle-like green fruits of pepper plants (Piper species) are a favoured item (1). During the dry season its diet is supplemented by nectar (1). This varied diet has enabled the silky short-tailed bat to occupy a range of habitats (5), but unfortunately has also contributed to its reputation as a pest. It has apparently increased in numbers by exploiting the availability of crops as a source of food, and has been reported to inflict damage to plantations of mango, coffee bean, guava and pawpaw (6).
The silky short-tailed bat is an important component of the tropical ecosystems it inhabits, as it provides the critical service of dispersing the seeds of the fruits on which it feeds. Interestingly, research has found that Piper seeds are more likely to germinate if they have first been ingested and defecated by the silky short-tailed bat (7).
The breeding season of the silky short-tailed bat varies depending on the location. It breeds in mid-winter in Ecuador, in early summer in Peru, and from December to August in Mexico and Central America (6). Usually a single young is born after a gestation period of 2.5 to 3 months (6).