Tent-making is known from a few dozen bat species, most of them New World leaf-nosed bats. Ectophylla alba is the most photographed practitioner. The bats sever the lateral veins of a large Heliconia or similar leaf along both sides of the midrib, and the unsupported blade collapses into an inverted V.
The structure sheds rain, hides the occupants from above, and can last several weeks before the leaf dies, at which point a new tent is cut. Groups are usually small, often fewer than a dozen, typically one male with several females and young. The construction is not fast; a tent may take several nights of work.
The white fur has a specific consequence. Sunlight passing through the green leaf casts a green light on the bats, and from below the group reads as part of the leaf rather than as animals. The yellow of the ears and nose comes from carotenoids in the bat's fig diet, and Ectophylla alba was the first mammal shown to deposit unusually high concentrations of carotenoid pigment in its skin.