suggest that Thai rice farmers consider establishing bat roosting
boxes. In California, USA, farmers install roosting boxes for a closely
related bat species (Tadarida brasiliensis, Geoffroy) to help controlling
agricultural pests (Tuttle and Hensley, 1993). T. plicata’s
foraging range in Thailand does not cover the most productive rice
areas (see Fig. 2), but even small bat colonies of 300 individuals –
living in one large roosting box – could enhance farmers’ rice productivity
locally by protecting an average of 657 kg rice per year