What do bats eat?

What bats eat depends on the species, because there are over 1,400 species worldwide with diverse diets, but the majority of bats in North America and Europe are insectivores that eat night-flying insects. These insect-eating bats use echolocation to hunt mosquitoes, moths, beetles, flies, midges, and other insects in flight, with a single little brown bat eating up to 1,000 insects in one night, making them highly beneficial for pest control and reducing crop pests and disease-carrying mosquitoes. Some tropical bats are frugivores, their diet consists of fruits like mangoes, bananas, figs, guavas, and dates, and they are important seed dispersers and pollinators. Some bats are nectarivores, feeding on nectar and pollen from flowers like agave, cactus, and banana flowers, and they are crucial pollinators for those plants, especially in desert ecosystems. A few species are carnivorous and eat small animals like frogs, lizards, fish, mice, and even other bats. The three species of vampire bats in Latin America feed on blood from livestock, birds, and occasionally humans, making small cuts and lapping blood, but they do not suck blood. So there is no single diet for all bats, but most bats around houses eat insects, which is why having bats around reduces mosquitoes.