October is Bat Month

Hello, I’m Amanda McNulty with Clemson Extension and Making It Grow. October is Bat Month; we should all learn how important these mammals are worldwide. The scientific name Chiroptera means "hand wing." The front hand of a bat is part of a large membrane that is stretched over four fingers, and importantly, an opposable thumb. In South Carolina, we have fifteen species of bats, and they are all insectivores. A bat normally eats about half its weight in insects every night, but pregnant and nursing females may eat almost their whole weight – that’s a lot of insects, many of which are harmful to crops. I thought bats just scooped up insects in their wings, then transferred them to their mouths, but they can actually pick insects off plants. In South Carolina, bats eat crop plant pests to the tune of saving farmers $115 million each year.