Their appetite costs farmers in the United States about one billion dollars annually. These pests are a particularly favored prey of the big brown bat and often total up to one third of the food eaten by a typical midwestern big brown bat colony. If such a colony ate the previously mentioned 38,000 adult cucumber beetles in a season, it would also mean that about 18 million rootworms were not produced. Both stages of June bugs are also highly injurious to plants. Stinkbugs are often pests in orchards and on soybeans.
Leafhoppers are serious pests of many plants.
They feed on the sap, which can reduce productivity, and they also often serve as vectors for various plant diseases. In one study these four bugs collectively totaled 37.8 percent of the food eaten by 184 big brown bats from various parts of Indiana throughout the season. At certain times and places, however, they often total nearly 100 percent of the diet of big brown bats. The evidence certainly suggests that it can. With their voracious appetite for beetles and various bugs, big brown bats are one of a farmer's best allies in controlling agricultural pests.