Little brown bats in Canada are already endangered by a devastating fungal disease.
Now a new study by University of Guelph biologists suggests that conservation efforts to rescue the creatures from the threat of extinction might be hindered by a bat cousin that has begun poaching their insect prey.
The study shows for the first time that big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) – a species generally immune to white-nose syndrome (WNS), which now threatens other kinds of bats across North America — have begun to encroach on the smaller species’ (Myotis lucifugus) buffet of bugs, including mosquitoes and many crop pests.
A skin infection, WNS swept through North America beginning in 2006 and has decimated several bat species, including the little brown bat.
Continue reading at University of Guelph.
Image via University of Guelph.