Marcgravia evenia, this ruby-colored sonar reflector, was the second vine found to be acoustically tailored to correspond with bats; the first was a flowering vine that grows on the edge of rain forests across Central America. That vine, Mucuna holtonii, produces many small flowers, and releases its pollen explosively. To reach the nectar, a bat must land on a flower and press its snout into a slit between two winglike petals. The pressure of the push causes a second pair of fused petals within, called a keel, to burst open. Inside the keel, bent under tremendous tension, is a stamen full of
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