Title: Research into moth-eating bats could drive natural pest control on Australian vineyards
Researchers say moth-eating bats could be the key to dramatically reducing the use of pesticides in wineries, potentially saving the industry $50 million a year nationally. Researchers could increase the number of bats and habitats in vineyards by creating artificial hollows The research, currently underway at the University of New England, came about after researchers looked at a Chilean project with a similar premise. Lead researcher Zenon Czenze said the first step of the project was to figure out which participating vineyards already had bats onsite and what they were eating. So far two wineries in the NSW Northern Tablelands have signed up, and another six further afield are interested. "We are finding several species of bats … on the vineyard and we've been recording them acoustically, using echolocation recorders," Dr Czenze said. "We know that indeed they are foraging on the edges of vineyards and even in the middle of the crops." If DNA testing from bat excrement shows that these smaller insect-eating bats are eating these moths, the research team thinks the wine industry could stop using $50 million worth of pesticides nationally each year. Read full article here.
