Using previous data and data recorded during a field study, scientists have given a value wrinkle-lipped bat (Tadarida plicata) on the white-backed planthopper (Sogatella furcifera),a migratory insect pest in Asia which feeds on rice shoots.
The scientists calculated that each wrinkle-lipped bat consumes roughly 1,130 white-backed planthoppers each day. With a population of almost eight million, they hypothesize that this bat species may prevent "paddy losses of nearly 2,900 tonnes per year worth $1.2 million (US) in export value, enough to feed 26,000 people for a year".
However, bats are not yet considered a significant pest control agent in agriculture,according to Wantana Srirattanasak, senior entomologist of Thailand’s Department of Rice, who said "our farmers have never thought of using bats as biological control agents".
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Photo Credit: ENN.com