Wang Qiuya, Feng Jiang, Wu Hui, Jiang Tinglei
College of Life Science, Jilin Agricultural University, Changchun, China.
Jilin Provincial Key Laboratory of Animal Resource Conservation and Utilization, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China.
Pest Manag Sci. 2025 Oct;81(10):6538-6549. doi: 10.1002/ps.70023. Epub 2025 Jun 26.
Studies on pest control services provided by insectivorous bats in China are limited, leading to a lack of public awareness concerning their importance in agriculture. As the leading producer of apples in the world and the largest consumer of pesticides globally, China experiences significant environmental pollution due to the extensive use of pesticides. Identifying the role of insectivorous bats as biological control agents is crucial, especially for apple growers and plant protection workers. Therefore, to determine and utilize the pest suppression services provided by insectivorous bats, we performed DNA metabarcoding to assess their ability to suppress apple pests and analyzed the factors influencing their activity in apple orchards via passive acoustic monitoring.
Common insectivorous bats active in apple orchards (49.71%) and surrounding habitats (46.44%) predominantly consumed apple pests. They consumed all four types of apple pests, including piercing-sucking pests, leaf-feeding or flower-feeding pests, fruit-boring pests, and trunk-boring pests. At scales of 200, 300, and 400 m, bat activity was positively associated with moth abundance and vegetation coverage but negatively correlated with landscape diversity.
Our results revealed the potential of common insectivorous bats as a natural solution for suppressing apple pests, suggesting valuable implications for cultivating and managing apple orchards. With this information on bat pest suppression, this study contributes to the fields of bat ecology and agricultural pest management in China and other countries. © 2025 Society of Chemical Industry.
在中国，关于食虫蝙蝠提供的害虫控制服务的研究有限，导致公众对其在农业中的重要性缺乏认识。作为世界上最大的苹果生产国和全球最大的农药消费国，中国因大量使用农药而面临严重的环境污染。确定食虫蝙蝠作为生物防治剂的作用至关重要，特别是对于苹果种植者和植物保护工作者。因此，为了确定并利用食虫蝙蝠提供的害虫抑制服务，我们进行了DNA宏条形码分析，以评估它们抑制苹果害虫的能力，并通过被动声学监测分析了影响它们在苹果园中活动的因素。
活跃在苹果园（49.71%）和周边栖息地（46.44%）的常见食虫蝙蝠主要捕食苹果害虫。它们捕食了所有四种类型的苹果害虫，包括刺吸式害虫、食叶或食花害虫、蛀果害虫和蛀干害虫。在200米、300米和400米的尺度上，蝙蝠活动与蛾类数量和植被覆盖呈正相关，但与景观多样性呈负相关。
我们的结果揭示了常见食虫蝙蝠作为抑制苹果害虫的天然解决方案的潜力，对苹果园的种植和管理具有重要意义。有了这些关于蝙蝠抑制害虫的信息，本研究为中国和其他国家的蝙蝠生态学和农业害虫管理领域做出了贡献。© 2025化学工业协会。
