DURIAN AND BATS
By Rosemary McAllister
Grade Grouping:
4-6 SIDES Elementary school
Subject Area:
Biology
Team Size:
1 person
Project Type:
Descriptive
Software Tools:
To build my webpage I used Netscape Composer, and I also used Adobe Photoshop CS Version 8 to shrink the photos I took of myself and durian.
Hardware Tools Used:
I used a Olympus C-750 Digital Camera to take some of the photos and I built the page and sent in using an Mac iBook G4.
Source of the Project Idea:
I learned of how bats pollinate durian in Bats of the World, A Golden Guide™ by Gary L. Graham.

Lesser Dawn Bat

This project is exploring the relationship between Lesser Dawn Bats (Eonycteris spelaea) and durian, a fruit which contributes over 120 million dollars to Southeast Asian economies annually. Lesser Dawn Bats are the main pollinators of durian fruits. The pollination of plants by bats is known as chiropterophily.

Since I live in southern China, have travelled through much of Southeast Asia, and am fascinated by bats, I decided to learn more about this pungent fruit and its pollinators. These bats are not protected, and as many farmers wrongly view them as pests, the bats are often killed in large numbers. On each page click the small picture of the durian to go to table of contents, and the durian flower to go to the next page.