Importance of bats in agave production highlighted in Mexico

24 NEWS. The Sustainable Development Secretariat of Morelos (SDS), held a virtual conversation called "Without bats, goodbye to mezcal and tequila!". Activity scheduled for "October, bat month in Morelos." Rodrigo Medellín Legorreta, researcher at the Institute of Ecology of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), highlighted that 140 species of bats live in Mexico, 12 of them feed on nectar and obtain pollen from the flowers of agaves, and two from they live in Morelos. “Agaves are linked with bats, they were connected more than 12 million years ago. The maguey, the agavera plant, offers its pollen and the bat is soaked in the nectar and lands on other flowers, dispersing them ”, explained Medellín Legorreta. He also added that there are 220 species of agave in Mexico that are pollinated by ...