Stingbat

The stingbat is a small, foul-tempered aerial predator with a highly developed navigational system.
Stingbats constantly fly into the range of automated sentry guns that defend the Hell's Gate compound, resulting in constant slaughter. Their diminished cerebral capacity also makes them common prey for larger predators such as the forest banshee, but their prodigious mating habits ensure a steady population.
==Anatomy==
Stingbats typically have purple-blue skin with bright yellow markings. It seems that stingbats in different regions tend to have different colorations.Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora Unlike other aerial creatures of Pandora, the stingbat's second pair of limbs have not evolved into wings, rather serving as pincer-like arms that can strike at predators and prey. They have four yellow eyes and prominent crest structures on the head and jaws. The stingbat has translucent fangs and claws with predominant bioluminescence on the wing membrane and torso. One of the stingbat's features is a scorpion-like tail stinger. Despite their highly developed visual navigational system, their small brain cavity and cerebral cortex inhibits their innate survival mechanisms.
==Behavior==
Stingbats are nocturnal and can be found sleeping upside-down during the day with their wings wrapped around themselves. They are omnivorous and feed on both flora and fauna, preferring rodent-sized creatures, lizards, and fruit. The stingbat usually feeds alone but will swarm with other stingbats against larger prey such as a small hexapede. They are one of the few animals that can consume the nectar of the centipede, as they are unaffected by the toxins in the glands of the branches around the flower. Pandorapedia - Scolopendra virens article
==In Na'vi Culture==
Despite their venomous tail spines, some Na'vi tame stingbats and keep them as pets. They can be trained to come to call with clicks between the tongue and teeth, perching on their owner's shoulder to eat fruit from their hands.https://www.pandorapedia.com/fauna/forest/stingbat.htmlThe World of Avatar: A Visual Exploration The Na'vi also harvest and use their tails as plectrums for playing musical bows.Pandorapedia - Small Musical Bow article
==Appearances==
*In the script, one stingbat attempted to attack Jake Sully when he first arrived at Hell's Gate, but it was immediately killed by Lyle Wainfleet.Avatar Script, page 10 This scene was among the deleted scenes (Stingbat Attack) included as part of the Extended Collector's Edition.
*The original 1995 script also included a scene during the Assault on the Tree of Souls in which arrows dipped in an attractant cause stingbats to swarm around human soldiers.
*A stingbat appears on avatar Norm Spellman's i-Tag.
*Stingbats can be sighted throughout Avatar. Three are seen flying away from Grace's, Norm's, and Jake's avatars from the opposite side of the tree they travel under during their first expedition on Pandora. Several can also be seen at various times while flying around the Omatikaya Clan Hometree and during a visit to Grace's abandoned school in the Extended Collector's Edition.
*Robotic stingbats can be found around the Pandora: The World of Avatar theme park, including one at Pongu Pongu.
== Gallery ==
File:Stingbat Kame'tire 1.png|A stingbat from the Clouded Forest region of the Western Frontier, seen from below.
File:Stingbat Kame'tire 2.png|A stingbat from the Clouded Forest region of the Western Frontier, seen from the side.
File:Stingbat Kame'tire 5.png|A stingbat from the Clouded Forest region of the Western Frontier, seen from above.
File:Stingbat Kame'tire 3.png|A close-up of the legs and feet of a stingbat from the Clouded Forest region of the Western Frontier.
File:Stingbat Kame'tire 4.png|A close-up of the head of a stingbat from the Clouded Forest region of the Western Frontier.
==References==
de:Stachelfledermaus
fr:Stingbat
pl:Żądłonietoperz
ru:Жалящая мышь
Category:Creatures
Category:Avatar
Category:Avatar: Reckoning
Category:Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora
Category:Flying creatures