There are only two species in the genus Cheiromeles. They are commonly referred to as Naked Bats, Hairless Bats, or Naked Bulldog Bats, as they are almost completely devoid of hair, except for very fine coat on the tail, head, and in a collar about the neck.

The skin is remarkably thickened, black in C. torquatus and dark brown in C. parvidens. The wings are joined together along the middle of the back near the mid line, and the skin is strong and elastic. As well as the unusual throat sack, both of these species also possess a pocket along flank for securing the ends of the wings when folded; this allows for some degree of agility during quadrupedal locomotion.

Both species occur in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...

: C. torquatus from peninsular Malaysia to Borneo

Borneo

Borneo is the third largest island in the world and is located north of Java Island, Indonesia, at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia....

, and east as far as the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, while C. parvidens is somewhat more restricted in range, found only on Sulawesi

Sulawesi

Sulawesi is one of the four larger Sunda Islands of Indonesia and is situated between Borneo and the Maluku Islands. In Indonesia, only Sumatra, Borneo, and Papua are larger in territory, and only Java and Sumatra have larger Indonesian populations.- Etymology :The Portuguese were the first to...

 and the Philippines.

These are typical molossids with very strong, fast flight on narrow wings, hawking termites, grasshopper

Grasshopper

The grasshopper is an insect of the suborder Caelifera in the order Orthoptera. To distinguish it from bush crickets or katydids, it is sometimes referred to as the short-horned grasshopper...

s and moth

Moth

A moth is an insect closely related to the butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Moths form the majority of this order; there are thought to be 150,000 to 250,000 different species of moth , with thousands of species yet to be described...

s over open paddy field

Paddy field

A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops. Paddy fields are a typical feature of rice farming in east, south and southeast Asia. Paddies can be built into steep hillsides as terraces and adjacent to depressed or steeply sloped features such...

s or forest canopies.

Mother bats unvaryingly produce twins in tree holes, the roosts favoured by both species.