Last updated on September 3rd, 2022
I always found bats to be fascinating creatures. It is common knowledge that bats are creatures that use echolocation for hunting their prey. But the food habit of bats is unique.
Some bats, like the microbats, live on insects, while the fruit bats will devour only fruits, and probably the most exciting vampire bats live on the blood of animals like cattle.
But when it comes to consuming insects, do bats eat wasps?
When it comes to hunting wasps, these insects aren’t regularly in the diet of bats because the mammal is nocturnal, and wasps don’t venture out of their nests at night because they look for food during the day. However, if a bat comes across a wasp at night, it will consume it.
Bats hunt for food at night. Hence, chances of coming across wasps at night are minimal.
But if a bat comes across a wasp that has not managed to return to its nest by night, it can be suitable prey for a bat.
Do bats like to eat wasps?
Bats eat insects, and theoretically, if bats come across wasps, they will eat these insects.
In most cases, wasps cannot fight against bats as these mammals are seasoned hunters.
Take the microbat, for example; if the creature can locate a suitable insect with the help of echolocation, it will catch hold of its prey and devour it.
These bats do not differentiate between wasps and any other insect. If it comes across a wasp at night, it will eat it.
Do bats attack wasp nests?
No, there is no record of a wasp nest being attacked by a horde of bats. The primary reason is that bats must coordinate within the group when they hunt.
Like most mammals, bats hunt in groups, and they will bring down readily available prey.
Therefore, if bats want to hunt wasps, they will have to attack a nest which means they will first have to locate the nest and bring down the prey while it is leaving the nest.
They will have to hunt multiple wasps to feed the family. Hence, there is no record of bats attacking wasp nests.
Can bats fall ill on eating wasps?
According to the website, www.science.org, bats harbor more diseases in the form of viruses and bacteria than any other creature on the planet.
Hence, there is hardly any chance that a bat will fall ill if it consumes a wasp.
Indeed, a wasp does not usually feature in a bat’s diet because a bat is a nocturnal creature, and wasps are active during the day.
However, if bats attack a nest of wasps and hunt these insects, the mammal will not fall ill as it is resistant to several diseases.
Do wasps build their nests near bat caves?
The simple answer to the question is no. Bats build their nests in trees, mines, bridges, and similar structures whereas wasps will build their nests in hollows of trees, crevices, logs, fences, and other sheltered locations.
There is no denying that bats are natural predators, especially microbats. These creatures hunt insects like lizards and wasps.
A wasp’s nest cannot be located quickly because it is not easily identifiable.
As bats are natural predators of insects hence, wasps will never build their nests at a location where bats can quickly locate them.
Are wasps afraid of bats?
It is difficult to say if wasps are afraid of bats. One of the reasons for it is that wasps are less likely to come across bats in their lifetime. Wasps are pretty aggressive and might even fight against the bats.
For example, the smallest microbat can be an inch, while the giant wasp, the tarantula wasp, can be as large as two inches.
Hence, such a wasp might have to fight against the bat. In another situation, the wasp might avoid it because bats are natural predators of insects.
Hence, it is difficult to say whether wasps would be afraid of bats without considering the species of the bat and the wasp.
Can bats prove to be dangerous for the wasps in your garden?
If you are an amateur gardener, you might find that wasps hovering over the flowers and fruits in your backyard can be healthy for your garden’s overall ecosystem.
But bats, on the other hand, can prove to be pests. Not only can they kill the wasps and other insects in your garden, but they are also known to carry dangerous diseases.
Thus, bats can be dangerous to the wasps and insects in your garden and the plants.
How many insects do bats eat in a day?
The smaller bats, such as the brown bat, do not consume more than four to eight grams of insect. This is equivalent to one or two grapes.
The size of the body of the regular bats is no more than that of a human thumb.
Therefore, their energy requirement is also quite limited, making it easier for the bats to limit the number of insects they need to consume in a day.
What is the typical food for bats?
According to the website: https://insectcop.net/what-bats-eat-as-natural-predators/, bats can be carnivorous, and when it comes to hunting creatures, their prey will depend on the size of the bat.
This means in the case of microbats, their preys are usually insects like crickets, mosquitoes, beetles, and moths.
These are the ones that use echolocation to find their prey, and they will be the ones that might eat the occasional wasp if they come across one.
On the other hand, giant bats or megabats usually survive on fruits and do not use echolocation to find their food.
Further reading:
https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/what-do-bats-eat