VAMPIRE BAT

[vampire bat] n (1790): any of several Central and So. American bats (Desmodus rotundus, Diaemus youngi, and Diphylla ecaudata of the subfamily Desmodontinae of the family Phyllostomidae) that feed on the blood of birds and mammals and esp. domestic animals and that are sometimes vectors of equine trypanosomiasis and of rabies; also: any of several other bats (as of the families Megadermatidae and Phyllostomidae) that do not feed on blood but are sometimes reputed to do so