Bats play an essential role in pest control, pollinating
plants and dispersing seeds. Recent studies estimate that bats eat enough
pests to save more than
$1 billion per year in crop damage and
pesticide costs in the United States corn industry alone. Across all
agricultural production, consumption of insect pests by bats results in a
savings of more than
$3 billion per year. While many bats
eat insects, others feed on nectar and provide critical pollination for a
variety of plants like peaches, cloves, bananas and agaves. In fact, bats
are the sole pollinator for the agave plant, a key ingredient in tequila!
A third bat food source is fruit, leading to yet another important role in
the ecosystem - seed dispersal. Fruit-eating bats can account for as much
as 95% of the seed dispersal responsible for early growth in recently
cleared rainforests.
