Lacki and forestry graduate student Jeff Schwierjohann have been studying the above-ground habitat requirements of these bats. Lacki says he has worked extensively with several resource agencies in Kentucky and shares his research findings with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Forest Service, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, the Nature Conservancy, and the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission. Lacki's goal this summer is to analyze the placement locations for the 150 bat boxes in the Daniel Boone National Forest-which ones were occupied, and whether single male bats or maternity colonies occupied the homes. Currently, Lacki and Schwierjohann are analyzing data from natural roosts for patterns. These bats are important to the ecology of the area, according to Lacki.
Bats are the primary night-flying predators of insects.
In the temperate zone, most bats feed exclusively on insects. They decrease the overall impact of agricultural pests such as beetles and moths. Several bat species eat these pests in the adult stage, thereby reducing the numbers in the larval, or pest stage. This way, bats provide important ecological controls. As important as bats are to the state's ecology, they are difficult to study.