How Do Bats Eat Mosquitoes?
WouterUsing echolocation, bats can locate and catch a bug by sending sound waves from their mouth. They are opportunistic feeders, eating a variety of insect species. However, their diets differ by species. Some species eat only beetles and moths, while others eat cucumber beetles and gnats.
Researchers have discovered that bats can consume a large number of mosquitoes in a short amount of time. They can eat up to 1,000 mosquitoes in an hour. In fact, one of the most common North American bats, the “little brown bat”, has been known to eat hundreds of mosquitoes every night.
In addition, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has also found that little brown bats eat a wide variety of mosquitoes, including those that are carrying West Nile Virus. It is likely that little brown bats eat these insects because they are easier to catch than other insects.
The study also demonstrates that large bat species are not likely to eat mosquitoes because they do not offer enough calories for their energy needs. Rather, the larger predators tend to eat larger prey. The results highlight the dangers of generalization in bat biology.
Many experts believe that bats prefer to eat insects larger than mosquitoes, because they can provide more calories per bug. This is a problem for conservationists because if they use bats as pest control, they will likely eat fewer mosquitoes.
Nevertheless, some bats do have species-specific diets, and a few species are believed to eat mosquitoes in order to control them. The role of bats in mosquito control is not well documented.
