How Do Moths Avoid Becoming The Next Meal Of An Insect- Eating Bat?
Although insect-eating bats have evolved such a precise system of hunting, some flying moths have found a way to evade it. The moths are able to sense the sound pulses from nearby bats, and when the predators come too close, they start to zig-zag wildly in the air to confuse the bats and avoid their final swoops. Being smaller than a bat, a moth is more agile, and so if it can judge the bat’s line of attack correctly, it can dodge aside at the last moment. Some moths will close their wings and let themselves fall suddenly to the ground under their own weight, dropping away from the bat altogether. Other insects, however, succumb to the bats much more readily. Research into the ecology of many insectivorous bat species has shown how bats can control insect populations. The huge colonies of Brazilian free-tailed bats, for example, can eat over 6,000 tonnes of insects each year.
