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 of significant importance to counteract their adverse effects. Insectivorous bats are considered amongst the most voracious predators of arthropods, some of which are known crop pests. In vineyard-dominated Mediterranean agroecosystems, several crops are damaged by the attack of insect pests. In this study we 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. 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, 25 of which are known to cause significant agricultural damage and 8 are regarded as pests affecting grapevines. The composition of pest species in faeces changed significantly with the season, thus suggesting several periods should be sampled to assess the pest consumption by bats. As a whole, the results imply that R. hipposideros acts as a suppressor of a wide array of agricultural pests in Mediterranean agroecosystems. Therefore, management measures favouring the growth of R. hipposideros populations should be considered.植食性节肢动物每年都会对农作物生产造成极为严重的损害。食虫动物对这类害虫的捕食，对于抵消其负面影响具有至关重要的意义。食虫蝙蝠被认为是节肢动物中捕食能力最强的天敌类群之一，而其中部分节肢动物正是公认的农作物害虫。在以葡萄园为主导的地中海农业生态系统中，多种作物均会受到昆虫害虫的侵害。本研究旨在达成两项核心目标：1）探究小菊头蝠（Rhinolophus hipposideros）的食性及其对害虫的捕食情况；2）分析其饮食中的害虫物种组成是否会随季节发生动态变化。本研究采用双引物DNA元条形码（DNA metabarcoding）技术，对欧洲西南部某葡萄酒产区三个蝙蝠集群在多数害虫整个活跃周期内采集的粪便样本中提取的DNA开展分析。整体共检测到隶属于11个目的395种节肢动物猎物，其中鳞翅目与双翅目的物种丰富度最高。总计鉴定出55种害虫物种，其中25种已被证实会造成显著的农业损害，另有8种被认定为危害葡萄藤的害虫。粪便样本中的害虫物种组成随季节发生了显著变化，这表明若要全面评估蝙蝠对害虫的捕食作用，需对多个时期进行采样。综合来看，研究结果表明小菊头蝠（R. hipposideros）在地中海农业生态系统中可对多种农业害虫起到显著的抑制调控作用。因此，应考虑出台有利于小菊头蝠种群繁衍的管理措施。