Gauteng Smallholder Dec 2016 / Jan 2017 | Page 13

From page 8 NEWS long study in Limpopo, for example, reveals that bats will larger insects, bypassing those feed on stinkbugs, so there is very small ones, such as no reason to suggest that midges. midges would be off the However, smaller bats, of menu if available. which there are many species There is also some research to on the Highveld, emit higher suggest that, when all else frequencies which are easily fails, bats will feed off water capable of echolocating tiny insects such as midges, even to sources, skimming up surfacethose down to no more than a dwelling water insects and couple of millimeters in length. larvae, which could include those of the Culicoides midge. C imicola, which would fall And if, indeed, bats eat into the category of small culicoides midges it's not only insects, is only one of an horse owners who can benefit estimated 1 000 varieties of from their presence. C imicola midge occurring worldwide is also a transmitter of the and a study on bat diets bluetongue virus, a serious undertaken in Scotland has disease of sheep and goats, so shown that Scottish bats do, keepers of sheep should also have a bat box near their animal housing. But even if bats have no effect on the culicoides midge there is another compelling reason to encourage them to take up residence near your animal housing, of all sorts, and that's simply because they feed, voraciously, on insects. Thus, they constitute another weapon in your war against mosquitoes, flies and other flying bugs and one that is cost-free and totally Three-box bat stations give the animals natural. a choice of housing Oh, and that old wives' tale of bats flying into and indeed, consume midges. becoming entabgled with But, there's more: bats are ladies' hairdos? That's voracious and opportunistic nonsense. With an echofeeders, requiring vast number locating sonar system as of insects daily to sustain their sophisticated as a bat's, is it high-metabolism systems (the honestly likely that a bat Scottish study estimated they would mistake a human can consume up to 3 000 hairdo for dinner? midges a night). If you would like to introduce There is evidence that bigger bats to your property, you species of insectivorous bats should offer them decent might also consume swarming housing. EcoSolutions of midges, even if they can't Strydom Park specialises in the echolocate individual prey, manufacture of owl and bat simply by flying through the houses, but more importantly swarm with their mouths open, maximising the potential hoovering up the insects much occupancy of those houses. the same way that a whale EcoSolutions says, “Bat houses hoovers up vast quantities of and their use in an integrated krill in the sea. pest management strategy is And bats are opportunistic not a cottage industry, it is a feeders, going after just about science. Over the last ten years anything in their path. A yearContinued on page 13 11 www.sasmallholder.co.za