In her study, conducted with Dr. Steven Bolin’s Laboratory at DCPAH and the Michigan DNR Wildlife Disease Laboratory, Darling found that big brown bats are much less likely to contract white-nose syndrome than little brown bats.

Over the summer, Darling screened more than 1,000 big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) to determine the prevalence of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the causative agent of white-nose syndrome, which is a fungal infection that can decimate entire colonies of hibernating little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus). They found that the disease is much less prevalent in large brown bats, which do not cluster together for the long winter months.

This devastating fungus arrived in the United States from Europe in 2006 and has since been confirmed in over half of the country. The fungus grows on the bats, waking them early from hibernation and sending them out into the world to hunt before winter is over.

In 2014, Michigan and Wisconsin wildlife officials announced that the fungus had killed millions of bats.  Michigan’s little brown bat population has been heavily affected by the fungus, which can cause upwards of 90 percent of colony collapse in some populations of bats. But the big brown bat population has been more resilient.

During the Summer Research Program, Darling spent many hours examining the muzzle, wings and tail membranes of over 1,000 big brown bat cadavers under an ultraviolet light to detect the fungus.

“It's the first time these bats have been sampled,” Darling said. “We think this broader sampling might provide a useful tool for wildlife management agencies seeking to detect the fungus. It was very exciting to be able to study such an important emerging wildlife disease.”

J Wildl Dis  2017 Mar 20. doi: 10.7589/2016-08-175. [Epub ahead of print] .<https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28318379> Prevalence and Distribution of Pseudogymnoascus destructans in Michigan Bats Submitted for Rabies Surveillance. Darling SL, Lim A , Melotti JR, O'Brien DJ, Bolin, SR.