The unusual and natural solution found by this town in the Lot to combat the tiger mosquito

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The inhabitants know something about it: the city of Prayssac in the Lot East invaded by mosquitoes, but that could soon change thanks to bats which will help reduce their numbers, and combat the tiger mosquito. Although it wanders around more during the day, when the bats come out at the end of the afternoon, there is still time for them to feed on it.

Bats eat 400 mosquitoes per day

In fact, studies have shown that they can ingest on average 400 mosquitoes per day ! Not to mention the flies and other harmful insects that they also eat.

They detect them using their ultrasound system. They are therefore very useful in the garden, but they lack a place to live: farms and barns are renovated into well-insulated houses, old sheds are demolished, etc.

Thanks to the participatory budget

To compensate for this lack, Jérôme Fabre applied to Prayssac’s call for participatory projects to propose theinstallation of bat boxes. For 4 years, the municipality has offered the population a budget to select an investment project. This year, an envelope of €20,000 was allocated.

A dozen projects were submitted by residents and associations, 5 were selected by the commission and 2 won the votes, including that of Jérôme Fabre. The latter found Jean-Marc Bonetti, a craftsman from Lot-et-Garonne who creates nest boxes for many animals.

Bat boxes in public spaces

4 models of bat nest boxes are on display at the town hall. Their particularity, unlike bird nesting boxes, is to have a slit-shaped entrance from below and not from the front. For the Prayssac bats, around thirty are already being manufactured and will be installed in carefully selected public spaces.

THE residents will also be able to obtain them for free to install them in their garden and other private space.

Around a hundred nest boxes will be installed in Prayssac

In all, around a hundred nest boxes will find their place in Prayssac. In this way, a good network of the municipality will be created.

Interventions in schools are organized to raise awareness among primary school pupils about biodiversity and the role of bats in regulating the proliferation of mosquitoes. The children are also involved in the rest of the project: they will paint stencil drawings of bats on the nest boxes and install an identification badge on them.

And monitoring will allow you to check the condition of the nest boxesif the bats have taken up residence there, if their installation is suitable: a minimum height of 2 m is required, a rather East or South-East orientation, shade, but also a little warmth, proximity to A water point is a plus.

The first conclusions will be made one year after the installation of the bat boxes.

Marie LEROY

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