Bats play shown to play a key role in combating rice pests in Southeast Asia

Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the Prince of Songkla University in Thailand have demonstrated that wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats not only travel great distances, but also hunt at impressive altitudes of up to 1,600 meters—the altitude at which many planthoppers fly, which are dreaded insect pests of rice plants. Conventional methods of pest control such as insecticides do not work at these altitudes.

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