Micro bats: The insect terminators
Flying mammals
Bats are the only group of mammals that are specifically adapted for flight. There are two types of bats: the micro bats and the mega bats. The micro bats (also known as insectivorous bats), are small to medium-sized bats, weighing from 3g to 150g, and with wingspans of around 25cm. The mega bats (also known as fruit bats) weigh up to a kilogram and some have wingspans over one metre. These two groups of mammals are thought to have evolved separately and are regarded as two distinct groups
How do they see in the dark?
Micro bats are nocturnal, and rely on echolocation and, to a lesser extent, eyesight, to find their way and locate insects at night.
Echolocation is a technique used by bats to ‘see’ their environment through sound. The bats create a pulse of high-pitched sounds, which are normally at frequencies beyond the range of human hearing. The sound waves are created in the bat’s voice box, and are emitted from the mouth or the nostrils. The echo that comes back to the bat can tell it how far away the object is, as well as it’s size and texture, and if it’s moving! In this way they are able to sense their environment, avoid flying into objects, and find their prey. Using an ‘ultrasonic bat detector’ can help to identify the bat as well as tell us whether the bat is navigating or feeding.
Micro bats do make some sounds that humans can hear, but these are usually social chatter, alarm calls and communications between mothers and their young at the roost. There are a couple of species that have echolocation calls that people with sharp ears can hear; these are the yellow-bellied sheathtail bat and the white-striped freetail bat
Micro bats rely on echolocation to find insects while flying quickly through the air. They do this with startling efficiency. Under controlled conditions a Myotis bat (a small insectivorous bat that lives near waterways) has been recorded capturing 1200 tiny fruit flies in one hour, one every three seconds, while navigating in the air.
New Research: Bats Harbor Hundreds Of Coronaviruses, And Spillovers Aren’t Rare
Olival, who is with the nonprofit research group EcoHealth Alliance, was there to trap bats and collect samples of their body fluids. He and his collaborators would then test the samples for viruses. Bats are known for carrying some dangerous ones, particularly viruses that have the potential to kick off global outbreaks through what’s called “spillovers” — instances of an animal virus jumping into a human.
The results of their work put the current coronavirus outbreak in China in a wholly new light. Scientists say it was caused by a spillover event. And the findings from the sample collection project suggest these kinds of spillovers have actually been quietly taking place in China for years.
Swabbing bats
The evidence comes from hours of painstaking sample collection sessions
“So we’re getting the oral swab in the back of the throat,” Olival explains. “And I’m just holding her head between my two fingers.”
A direct path to humans
It gets worse: Scientists had thought spillovers were rare — that bat coronaviruses weren’t generally capable of infecting humans, so it took complicated steps. Step one: A bat coronavirus would have to infect some animal species that had closer contact with people than bats do. Step two: While in that other animal’s body, the virus would need to pick up new genetic code.
Why are bats blind?
Bats are not blind and can in fact see quite well using their eyes. While most bats do have advanced ears that give them a form of vision in the dark known as echolocation, these good ears does not require them to have bad eyes. Bats use their good hearing to find food in the dark of night, and their good eyes to find food during the light of day. The vision of bats is tuned to low-light conditions such as is present during dawn and dusk. While some bats may not have as good color vision as humans, their overall vision may be better than humans during dawn and dusk
Both megabat and microbats rely on vision during social interactions with one another, to watch for predators, and for navigating across landscapes. Megabats have large eyes and depend on vision to orient themselves during flight and to find food. Most microbats use echolocation to navigate and find food, and they tend to have smaller eyes, although they, too, use vision during their daily activities and to detect objects outside the effective range of echolocation, which is about thirty-three to sixty-six feet (ten to twenty meters). Some bats are also capable of visual pattern discrimination, which may assist fruit or nectar bats in finding food.” Taken literally, the comment, “you are as blind as a bat,” should mean that you have excellent vision in low light conditions, although it is usually meant to imply you have bad vision overall. This phrase perhaps originated from the fact that bats have rapid, erratic flight patterns that look like a blind person bumbling about.
Attract Bats for Organic Insect Control
Bats are the most misunderstood of our garden residents. Do these critters send a chill down your spine? If so, read on. Bats have an undeserved reputation for being bloodsucking, disease-carrying, dirty little rodents. Don’t let these myths about bats scare you — embrace them (not literally, of course) and attract them to your garden!
Why You Should Attract Bats
These little flying mammals are great hunters of mosquitoes and other annoying insects. In fact, research reveals that a single bat can eat more than 600 mosquitoes per hour. They’re a fantastic, organic pest-control method.
By creating a bat-friendly yard, you’re also doing good on a grander scale. Like many species, bat populations are declining due to pesticide use and habitat loss.
How to Attract Bats
Like birds, bats prefer a source of shelter and they’ll often hang out in old trees and large shrubs. Bats nest in abandoned buildings, hollow trees, under a building’s eves, in loose tree bark, and in bat houses. Bats also enjoy water features, such as ponds, where insects may congregate.
Bat Myths
Like any mammal, bats can catch rabies. But they’re not as likely to catch the disease as many other animals — and even if they do, you’re less likely to come into contact with them. (That said, never handle a bat or any other wild animal in your yard.)
Cleaning of an environment contaminated with bat droppings
Bat droppings, also called guano, sometimes contain microscopic fungi that can cause health problems in humans.
If bats have taken up residence in your home, you will notice their droppings. They are shiny, crumble easily and give off a foul odour. When they dry out, they turn to dust.
The contaminated area must be cleaned to prevent health problems. Take precautions to prevent the dust from droppings from becoming airborne and contaminating other rooms in the house.
To clean up large quantities of droppings or to clean areas that are hard to reach
Sometimes, there is a very large quantity of droppings to clean up or there are many contaminated areas and they are hard to reach.
Hire experts
If there is a large accumulation of droppings or they are hard to reach, it’s best to leave decontamination to the experts. Some pest control professionals offer this service. An experienced pest control professional will have a thorough knowledge of the measures that must be taken and the procedures to follow to remove bat droppings and clean contaminated areas.