page_title: Big brown bat
section_title: Economic value
hierarchical_section_title: Big brown bat / Relationship to people / Economic value
caption_attribution_description: English: A bat box in the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. Broad Channel, Queens, New York.
context_page_description: The big brown bat is a species of vesper bat distributed widely throughout North America, the Caribbean, and the northern portion of South America. It was first described as a species in 1796. Compared to other microbats, the big brown bat is relatively large, weighing 15–26 g and possessing a wingspan of 32.5–35 cm. Big brown bats are insectivorous, consuming a diverse array of insects, particularly night-flying insects, but especially beetles. Some of the beetles it consumes are serious agricultural pests, including cucumber beetles. They are nocturnal, foraging for prey at night and roosting in sheltered areas during the day such as caves, tunnels, tree cavities, and human structures. Their breeding season is in the fall, shortly before their annual hibernation. After hibernation ends in the spring, females form maternity colonies for giving birth to young. Oftentimes only one offspring is produced per litter, though twins are common in the Eastern US. Lifespans of 6.5 years are considered average.
  The big brown bat occurs widely throughout the US, Canada, Central America, and the Caribbean.
context_section_description: Big brown bats are a species that will use bat houses for their roosts. Landowners will purchase or construct bat houses and install them, hoping to attract big brown bats, largely due to their being an "agriculturally valuable species". In particular, the big brown bat feeds on cucumber beetles, which can decimate corn; this makes the species quite beneficial to farmers in the Corn Belt.
caption: A typical bat box affixed to a post
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