Are bats and birds effective in controlling mosquitoes?
Bats have been the spark of interest of people as an effective way to control mosquitoes. This is not a new idea. Tests conducted in Texas have extensively evaluated the diet of bats; which include moths, beetles, and wasps. Although bats are opportunistic feeders, they would prefer larger body mass insects that would provide more nutritional value. This is not to say if bats came into contact with mosquitoes that they would not feed on them. It would be a misconception, to believe that bats would present an effective and efficient avenue to control mosquito populations; keeping in mind the ratio of bats per mosquito vectors that could spread diseases. Birds, such as Purple Martins, have a similar relationship to mosquitoes as bats. Most insect feeding birds are primarily active during times that most mosquitoes are not. Also a bird, such as the Purple Martin, catches its food on the fly high above the tree tops, and mosquitoes fly lower to the ground out of the flight patterns of thes
