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Vespertilionid Bats: Vespertilionidae

Vespertilionid Bats And People

Humans frequently don't recognize the benefits of bats. Vespertilionid bats eat many insects, including mosquitoes, crop-damaging beetles, and other pest species. Just five bats can eat 15,000 or more insects in a single night. Besides their benefit in keeping insect populations in check, bats have become a part of the folklore of many cultures. Much of the folklore, including that portrayed in horror books and movies, describes bats as evil creatures bent on sucking blood. Vespertilionid bats engage in no such activity, and rarely even fly close to a human.

BIRDS AREN'T THE ONLY ANIMALS TO MIGRATE

When people hear about a fall migration, they usually think of birds that fly south for the winter. Other animals, including bats, migrate, too. Some bats may fly several hundred miles (kilometers) to escape the winter cold. The noctule, a medium-sized bat from Europe and Asia, makes migrations of 400 miles (670 kilometers) or more each year—quite a feat for an animal that is only about 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) long in body length and weighs about an ounce (28 grams).

Additional topics

Animal Life ResourceMammalsVespertilionid Bats: Vespertilionidae - Physical Characteristics, Habitat, Behavior And Reproduction, Vespertilionid Bats And People, Conservation Status, Pallid Bat (antrozous Pallidus): Species Accounts - GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, DIET