Food

All our British bats eat insects, though some of them will also enjoy spiders or other small invertebrates. Each species of bat has its own favourites, and through the summer their diet will change as different insects are available. Among the most important are moths, mayflies, dung beetles, midges and cockchafer beetles.

Insect eating bats can eat half their weight in a night.
How many sandwiches are equal to half your weight?

Worldwide 70% of all bats eat insects, though in some tropical and semi-tropical areas bats include frogs, lizards, fish, nectar, fruit and even other bats in their diet.

Bats are important to the balance of nature. Insect-eating bats include huge numbers of crop pests in their diet. Fruit and nectar-eating bats are very important for the part they play in pollinating tree flowers and spreading seeds. Many forest trees, including some which are grown commercially, depend on bats.