Why are bats beneficial?
Seventy percent of the world’s bats eat insects. One bat can devour up to 3,000 insects in a night! Most insectivorous bats eat their body weight in insects each night. It has been estimated that the 22 million Mexican free-tailed bats roosting in Bracken Cave, Texas during the summer eat 250 tons of insects each night, a large portion of which are agricultural pests. It is little wonder that bats are considered the most important natural controller of night-flying insects.
