Abstract
Diet is an important part of microbat biology that provides valuable information on how species interact and persist in an ecosystem. Dietary analysis is also important in interpreting their role as predator of night flying insects. Our objective is to report on the food and feeding habits of four microbats (<i>Neoromicia nana, Neoromicia tenuipinnis, Pipistrellus nanulus</i> and <i>Scotoecus hirundo</i>) in the Centre Region of Cameroon, based primarily on fecal remains collected from bats captured at their feeding and roosting sites. Bats were captured from January 2016 to December 2017 using mist nets and their fecal pellets were collected for dietary analysis. Dietary analysis of 393 fecal pellets of 51 vesper bats showed that bats consumed eight insect Orders (Coleoptera, Diptera, Lepidoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Isopteran, Trichoptera and Neuroptera). Lepidoptera’s (%v=58.5%) were the most important food source for these bats. The three most frequent insect Orders encountered in the pellets of these bats were Lepidoptera (%f = 96.6%), dipteran (%f =79.1%) and Coleoptera (%f =77.5%). We observed large amounts of Diptera content in the diet of <i>S. hirundo</i> (%v = 39.7%), <i>N. tenuipinnis</i> (%v = 29.6%). Elucidating the role of bats in Dipteran control could lead to benefits for both the conservation of bats and public health. Equally erecting of bat houses to attract bats in farms so that they feed on insects could reduce or minimize the use of pesticides. A statistical analysis of mean percentage frequency and volume of food items indicated that among the four-bat species, consumed prey items were similar (H = 0.2, p = 0.9). This new information can be used for both conservation and to improve public awareness about bats in Cameroon.
Highlights
Insectivorous bats make up about 70% of bat species worldwide [1]
Our study gives some insights in the diets of four bat species from the Centre region of Cameroon
The diets of these species have never been studied anywhere in Cameroon before, this study provides important baseline information about these species
Summary
Insectivorous bats make up about 70% of bat species worldwide [1]. Over the past years, many studies on their diet have produced enormous amount of data essential for the understanding of their foraging behavior and ecology [2, 3]. Dietary analysis of microbats is important in interpreting their ecological role as predators on their respective preys [4, 5] as well as their potential to be used as biological control agents in both natural and modified (e.g. agricultural) areas [6,7,8]. They feed on several major farm land insect pests such as corn earworm moths (a major pest of corn, beans and tomatoes), spotted cucumber beetles, brown stink bug, fruit flies, celery looper, green stink bug [9, 10]. A single colony of 150 big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus), in Indiana consumes nearly 1.3 million pest insects each year, including a taxonomic richness of mosquitoes [11]
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