MADISON, Wis. (AP) - A recently published study by University of Wisconsin researchers found the bats they studied ate 17 different types of mosquitoes, including nine that are potential carriers of the West Nile Virus.
Researchers studied two species of bats; the little brown bat and the big brown bat, Wisconsin Public Radio reported . The study was published in the Journal of Mammalogy.
Researchers analyzed the bats’ fecal material from samples collected at more than 20 Wisconsin sites in 2014.
The study found that bats eat a lot of mosquitoes in the spring, said Amy Wray, the study’s author and a UW-Madison Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology PhD student.
“They come out of hibernation and bats are super hungry, and there might not be a lot be a lot of insects around,” Wray said. “Mosquitoes may not have a lot of calories or provide a lot of energy, but if they’re the only thing around, it might mean they could be important for bats at certain times of the year.”
DNA analysis identified 17 different mosquito types, including nine that can carry the West Nile Virus.
“So, that’s sort of an interesting thing to consider, whether (bats) potentially having an effect on (limiting) any kind of disease spread,” Wray said.
Bats are more likely to eat mosquitoes that breed multiple times a year, the study found.
Researchers hope future studies will examine the volume of mosquitoes bats eat and how that impacts mosquito suppression, according to a university release.
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Information from: Wisconsin Public Radio, http://www.wpr.org
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