Abstract
Bats provide us with important ecosystem services including insect
population controllers in agricultural areas. The study on bats and
insect abundance in Malaysian rice fields are still lacking. Two harp
traps and two mist nets were used to trap bats at the Gunung Keriang
while a light trap was used to sample insects in the rice field area at
three identified sites. A total of 2499 bats from 27 species were
captured and for insect abundance a total of 161,539 individuals from 11
orders were captured. Rhinolophus pusillus was recorded as the
dominant bat species in all seasons. In the dry season, the dominant
insect pest was Chilo polychrysus (Stem borer) and in the wet
season, Nilaparvata lugens (Brown planthopper) the dominant
insect pest species. Insects from the Order Coleoptera (the dominant
insect Order in dry season) may be eaten by bats that have a larger body
size and that have a strong bite force. Due to high food availability
and insect abundance, the peak time of bat foraging activity is the same
as the peak time of insect emergence. We found that there is a
significant relationship between bat activity with temperature and
rainfall, but not with insect abundance. This study further highlights
the importance of bats in regulating the insect pests population
naturally in the rice field area.