Recordings of bat echolocation and social calls are used for many research purposes from ecological studies to taxonomy. Effective use of these relies on identification of species from the recordings, but comparative recordings or detailed call descriptions to support identification are often lacking for areas with high biodiversity. The ChiroVox website (www.chirovox.org) was created to facilitate the sharing of bat sound recordings together with their metadata, including biodiversity data and recording circumstances. To date, more than 30 researchers have contributed over 3,900 recordings of nearly 200 species, making ChiroVox the largest open-access bat call library currently available. Each recording has a unique identifier that can be cited in publications; hence the acoustic analyses are repeatable. Most of the recordings available through the website are from bats whose species identities are confirmed, so they can be used to determine species in recordings where the bats were not captured or could not be identified. We hope that with the help of the bat researcher community, the website will grow rapidly and will serve as a solid source for bat acoustic research and monitoring.

Bats provide us with important ecosystem services including insect population controllers in agricultural areas. Studies 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.

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