[Pollinator] Super bats: Insects are no match for these plant pollinators

Mon Jul 27 14:33:09 PDT 2009

>From the Coloradoan.com
Super bats: Insects are no match for these plant pollinators

BY CHARLEEN BARR • For the Coloradoan • July 25, 2009 

    *   Bat have a reputation of being a little on the creepy  side. 
However, these winged mammals serve a critical role in the environment  and the 
garden. Bats help control insect populations and are important  pollinators.

A single little brown furry bat will eat 600 mosquitoes  in one hour. If 
you multiply 600 insects per hour during an eight-hour night,  bats can 
consume 4,800 insects in a single evening. Bats eat many garden and  agricultural 
pests, including cutworm moths, chafer beetles, potato beetles and  spotted 
cucumber beetles. Some moths can detect a bat's echolocation and will  avoid 
the area where bats are present.

Plants that attract insects for bats are strongly  scented and bloom at 
night. A few examples include evening primrose,  night-scented stock, 
nicotiana, moonflowers, night phlox, honeysuckle,  four-o-clocks, salvia, lemon balm, 
mint, marjoram, lavender, thyme and  sage. 
Several species of bats are important pollinators.  There are more than 20 
genera of plants that rely on bats to pollinate them.  These plants range 
from blooming cacti to wild banana trees. Bats and plants  have a symbiotic 
relationship that increases the success of the feeding bat and  pollination. 
Nectar-feeding bats have long muzzles and long,  protruding tongues that 
have a brush tip that gathers pollen quickly and  efficiently. The flowers 
pollinated by bats angle downward and have just the  right size and shape for 
the bat to insert its head and shoulders. As the bat  moves from each 
night-blooming flower, it becomes the pollinator. 
In addition to patrolling for pests and pollinating,  bats provide a hearty 
organic fertilizer, known as guano, which is high in  nitrogen, phosphorus 
and potassium. These minerals are essential nutrients for  flowers, herbs, 
vegetables, ornamental grasses and other plants. 
Welcoming bats to the garden is as simple as providing  a pleasing 
environment that includes water, leaving a light on, not using  pesticides and 
providing some type of shelter. To encourage bats to your garden,  plant flowers 
near groups of trees or consider growing ivy or climbing vines on  a fence 
or wall. You can also provide a bat house. Bats love dark, enclosed  spaces. 
They instinctively seek sheltered spots, such as inside old hollow  trees, 
under eaves, in caves or gutter spouts, and in empty attics. 
Many homeowners are uncomfortable with bats living in  their homes. Bats 
are equally uncomfortable sharing a house with people and only  resort to 
living in an attic when natural roosts like dead trees are not  available. 
Building a bat house is an option. The Organization for Bat  Conservation 
(_www.batconservation.org_ (http://www.batconservation.org/) ) offers directions on 
how to build and  where to place a bat house. 
Bats are furry and a bit unusual-looking, but for  gardeners who suffer 
from mosquitoes, bats provide a natural and continuing  solution.

Laurie Davies Adams
Executive  Director
Pollinator Partnership 
423 Washington Street, 5th  floor
San Francisco, CA  94111
415-362-1137
LDA at pollinator.org

_www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 

_www.nappc.org_ (http://www.nappc.org/) 

National Pollinator Week is June 22-28, 2009. 
Beecome  involved at _www.pollinator.org_ (http://www.pollinator.org/) 
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