You bats they are flying mammals that have their forelimbs transformed into wings. They can be found in almost all regions of planet Earth, with the exception of colder regions such as the poles. In Brazil, there are 138 species of bats. Like all mammals, these animals have their bodies covered with hair and feed their young with milk produced in the mammary glands of females.
Bats orient themselves through echolocation
O bat it is an animal that goes hunting at dawn, dusk or at night. Because he lives in total darkness, he uses the echolocation to orient, managing to locate obstacles and also their prey. At echolocation, this animal emits sounds with very high frequencies (unable to be heard by human beings), which when they hit any obstacle, they return to the animal in the form of an echo, and so it is able to orientate itself and know how far away the obstacle is from its front.
When feeding, the fruit bat helps in the dissemination of tree seeds
Among the various species of bats that exist, many are beneficial and allied of human beings. Among these allied species, we can mention the one of the fruit bat. This animal feeds only on fruit; and with these eating habits he is able to spread the seeds of trees, which, when they fall to the ground, germinate and become a tree. Thus, this bat helps in reforestation, recovering woods and forests destroyed by man. There are numerous plant species that depend exclusively on the bat to spread your seeds.
The insectivorous bat helps control insect populations
another kind of bat what benefits us is the insectivorous bat. This animal feeds on insects such as beetles, crickets, cockroaches, grasshoppers, among many others, including those that destroy crops. In this way, he can keep the insect population under control.
The pollinator bat is a great helper of nature
There are also the bats who have their diet based on pollen and nectar from flowers. They are widely found in the cerrado, Amazon and Atlantic Forest regions and are considered beneficial to man, as they provide pollination of flowers, favoring the generation of fruits and, consequently, of descendants.
There are species of omnivorous bats, that is, they feed on pollen, fruits and insects.
There are also species of bats that feed on amphibians, fish, plant leaves; and those who feed on blood, well known as vampire bat.
Of all kinds of bats known, only three species are from vampire bat, all of which can be found in South America.
O vampire bat it feeds on the blood of vertebrates such as cattle and other mammals. This bat has an anticoagulant substance in its saliva that prevents the victim's blood from clotting, allowing the bat feed yourself. That bat it is much feared by cattle raisers and also by humans, as it is one of the transmitters of rabies, a serious disease that leads to death.
By Paula Louredo
Graduated in Biology
