I am sure you have heard the stories; that a small bat can eat 1,000 mosquitoes a night. This idea is so well known that many people have put up bat houses to attract this animal even though most people hate bats. I guess they hate mosquitoes even worse.
It all makes so much sense. Bats fly at night eating insects. Mosquitoes come out at night to hunt us. Why would bats not eat this plentiful food? And then there is the science; scientists studied bats and determined they could eat 1,000 mosquitoes a night.
In this post, I will look at this myth and explain how the myth originated. It is quite rare for me to be able to know how a myth starts, but in this case, it’s fairly clear.
Key Takeaways
- The idea that mosquitoes eat 1,000 a night is mostly a myth.
- Only some very small bats eat mosquitoes.
- Bat houses do not control local mosquito populations.