Data from: Pest consumption in a vineyard system by the lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros)

Herbivorous arthropods cause immense damage in crop production annually.
Consumption of these pests by insectivorous animals is claimed to be
crucial to counteract their adverse effects. Bats are considered amongst
the most voracious predators of arthropods, of which some species are
known to consume crop pests. In vineyard dominated Mediterranean
agroecosystems, several crops are damaged by the attack of insect pests.
In this study we therefore aimed 1) to explore the diet and pest
consumption of the lesser horseshoe bat Rhinolophus hipposideros and 2)
analyse whether the composition of pest species in its diet changes
throughout the season. For that, we employed a dual-primer DNA
metabarcoding analysis of DNA extracted from faeces collected in three bat
colonies of a wine region in Southwestern Europe during the whole active
period of most pest species. Overall, 395 arthropod prey species belonging
to 11 orders were detected; lepidopterans and dipterans were the most
diverse orders in terms of species. Altogether, 55 pest species were
identified, among them 25 are major pests and 8 are regarded as pests
affecting grapevines. The composition of pest species in faeces changed
significantly with season. As a whole, the results suggest that R.
hipposideros acts as a suppressor of a wide array of agricultural pests in
Mediterranean agroecosystems. Therefore, appropriate management measures
to favour the growth of this bat populations should be considered.