The lesser long-nosed bat (Leptonycteris yerbabuenae) is a medium-sized bat found in Central and North America.
The tongue of lesser long-nosed bats has a number of adaptations for lapping nectar, including long ridges and rough, conical papillae, which may also help protect against periodontal disease by scraping the teeth clean. Their wings have a high wing loading, allowing for energy efficient long-distance flight in open habitats, at the expense of manoeuvrability.
Only three other species of North American bat have a nose-leaf, and two of these, the Mexican long-tongued bat, and the California leaf-nosed bat, have a distinct tail, and also, in the latter case, much larger ears than lesser long-nosed bats do. They are more easily confused with their close relatives, the greater long-nosed bats, but, in addition to being about 10% larger, the latter have shorter, greyish fur, and proportionately longer wings.
In the north, they reach southern California, Arizona and New Mexico. However, they are only found as summer migrants in the United States and, more generally, north of the mid-Sonora, arriving in these regions between April and July, and migrating south again in September. Their migratory patterns have been shown to follow a path determined by seasonal availability of food plants, with cacti, Agave, and plants of the C3 metabolic pathway being strong predictors of distribution. They are found year-round in the western and southern parts of Mexico, and along the east coast, and in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. as well as century plant and other agaves. They are important pollinators of night-blooming cactus. They may also eat some cactus fruits, and, during the winter, on pollen from a range of other plants as the opportunity arises.