Clearweed vs Common Tent-making Bat

Pilea fontana compared with Uroderma bilobatum

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Clearweed	Common Tent-making Bat
Kingdom	Plantae (Plants)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum	Magnoliophyta (Flowering Plants)	Chordata (Chordates)
Class	Magnoliopsida (Dicots)	Mammalia (Mammals)
Order	Rosales (Roses & Allies)	Chiroptera (Bats)
Family	Urticaceae	Phyllostomidae
Genus	Pilea	Uroderma
Species	Pilea fontana	Uroderma bilobatum

Conservation Status

Clearweed

LC — Least Concern

Common Tent-making Bat

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Clearweed	Common Tent-making Bat
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Clearweed

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial habitats from tropical forests to temperate regions.

Range

Distributed across Canada and United States.

Common Tent-making Bat

Habitat

Typically found in diverse terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

Range

Distributed across Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.

Clearweed

Clearweed, Pilea pumila, is a small, annual herb in the family Urticaceae native to moist, shaded habitats across eastern North America and eastern Asia, including the eastern United States, Canada, eastern China, Japan, and Korea. The species grows in dense colonies in wet woodland, stream banks, floodplain forests, and moist disturbed ground, often forming carpets on rich, moist mineral soils in deeply shaded forest understories. The common name refers to the translucent, watery stems and smooth, bright green leaves, which give the plant an almost glassy appearance. Like its relative stinging nettle, Clearweed is a member of the nettle family but lacks the stinging hairs, making it harmless to touch. The leaves are opposite, broadly ovate with toothed margins, and the plants bear inconspicuous tiny greenish flowers that are wind-pollinated, releasing pollen in small explosive bursts. Clearweed provides food for a variety of insects and invertebrates in moist forest understory communities. The species is not considered threatened and is common across its native range, thriving in the disturbed, humid conditions found along stream margins and in second-growth forest habitats. It is occasionally weedy in gardens and greenhouses.

Common Tent-making Bat

<em>Uroderma bilobatum</em>, the tent-making bat, is a leaf-nosed bat in the family Phyllostomidae, distributed across Central America and northern South America, including Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela. It is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List due to its wide range and tolerance of secondary and disturbed habitats. This bat is named for its remarkable behavior of biting through the midribs of large palm or Heliconia leaves to cause them to fold into tent-like roosts, which are used for shelter by small colonies. It typically inhabits tropical and subtropical lowland forests, forest edges, and plantations. The diet consists primarily of fruits, particularly figs, making it an important seed disperser in neotropical ecosystems. Roosting groups are typically small, composed of one male and several females. The species uses echolocation for navigation. Biological traits such as precise wing dimensions, body weight, and longevity remain poorly documented in standardized assessments, though adults typically weigh between 13 and 20 grams.