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Brazilian free-tailed bat

Tadarida brasiliensis

Photo by Merlin Tuttle
Published on Project Noah
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30.1937, -98.0199

Field Notes

Description:

Brazilian free-tailed bat (Tadarida brasiliensis) catching a corn earworm moth (Helicoverpa zea) in Texas.

Notes:

This moth is a billion-dollar-a-year pest. Bats like this save American farmers billions of dollars annually, by reducing reliance on dangerous pesticides. In just one night a free-tailed bat can eat 20 to 40 migrating moths that could each lay 500 to 1,000 eggs on Texas crops. The combined impact of millions of these bats significantly reduces the need for costly and damaging pesticides.

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