What is "nyctimene"

Nyctimene \Nyctimene\ prop. n. (Zool.) A genus of East Indian fruit bats.

Syn: genus Nyctimene.

Nyctimene was, according to Roman mythology, the daughter of Epopeus, a king of Lesbos. Depending on which version of the story one reads she was either raped or seduced by her father. Out of shame or guilt she fled to the forest and refused to show her face in daylight. Taking pity on her Minerva transformed her into the nocturnal owl which, in time, became a widespread symbol of the goddess.

In Metamorphoses, Cornix (the crow) complains that her place as Minerva's sacred bird is being usurped by Nyctimene, who is so ashamed of herself that she will not be seen by daylight.

Her name has been given to a genus of bats and an asteroid.

'Nyctimene ' is a genus of bats in the family Pteropodidae. They are distributed in the central Philippines, eastern Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the north eastern tip of Queensland, Australia.

It contains these species:

• Broad-striped tube-nosed fruit bat, N. aello
• Common tube-nosed fruit bat, N. albiventer
• Pallas's tube-nosed bat, N. cephalotes
• Dark tube-nosed fruit bat, N. celaeno
• Mountain tube-nosed fruit bat, N. certans
• Round-eared tube-nosed fruit bat, N. cyclotis
• Dragon tube-nosed fruit bat, N. draconilla
• Keast's tube-nosed fruit bat, N. keasti
• Island tube-nosed fruit bat, N. major
• Malaita tube-nosed fruit bat, N. malaitensis
• Demonic tube-nosed fruit bat, N. masalai
• Lesser tube-nosed fruit bat, N. minutus
• Philippine tube-nosed fruit bat, N. rabori
• Eastern tube-nosed bat, N. robinsoni
• Nendo tube-nosed fruit bat, N. sanctacrucis (early 20th century †)
• Umboi tube-nosed fruit bat, N. vizcaccia

Nyctimene may mean:

• Nyctimene (genus), a genus of bats in the family Pteropodidae
• Nyctimene (mythology), a character in Ovid's Metamorphoses: the daughter of Epopeus, a king of Lesbos
• 2150 Nyctimene (1977 TA), an inner main-belt asteroid discovered on October 13, 1977 by W. Sebok at Palomar