Bats Mike Lacki , associate professor of wildlife ecology in the UK College of Agriculture, and forestry graduate student Jeff Schwierjohann have been studying the above-ground habitat requirements of the endangered Indiana bat and the northern bat. Lacki is trying to identify what habitats are more suitable for bats, and where they feed and what they feed on. These bats are important to the ecology of the area, according to Lacki.
Bats are the primary night-flying predators of insects.
In the temperate zone, most bats feed exclusively on insects. They decrease the overall impact of agricultural pests such as beetles and moths. Several bat species eat these pests in the adult stage, thereby reducing the numbers in the larval, or pest stage. This way, bats provide important ecological controls.