Species richness of insectivores bats and phototaxis insects in selected tea plantations: potential of bio-control of insects by bat predation

Abstract

Tea is a prominent plantation crop in Sri Lanka with a significant role in export for generations. Insect pests significantly interfere with the productivity of the tea sector and economically feasible and ecologically acceptable pest management is the primary concern in novel pest management programme. Insectivorous bats served as a predator of nocturnal insects and there is a potential to use as a biocontrol agent of crop pest management. But there is no available literature on bat predation services in tea plantations in Sri Lanka. The present investigation was carried out to study the nocturnal insects and insectivorous bats in selected tea plantations to exploit bats as a potential biocontrol agent in the tea pest management programme. Light traps were used to capture nocturnal insects and mist nets were used to capture bats. According to our result, the abundance of insects in tea ecosystems is typically high according to Shannon’s diversity indices throughout the year. Our results revealed that the twelve species of bats representing eight insectivorous bats in five different families foraging in tea plantations. Although we were unable to show the bat predation through this study, it remains to be seen the potential to integrate the insectivorous bats as a predator of the tea insect pests management programme.