Bats hum for sugar too

Researchers report for the first time that some nectar-feeding bats metabolize sugar at the same frantic rate as hummingbirds do.

SUGAR FIX. Long-tongued bats hover like hummingbirds and rapidly convert sugar to energy to maintain their high-powered lifestyle. C. Voigt/Leibniz Inst., Berlin

Like hummingbirds, South American long-tongued bats (Glossophaga soricina) hover at flowers and feed on sugar-rich nectar.