Bats from different foraging guilds prey upon the pine processionary moth

Abstract

Outbreaks of the processionary moth Thaumetopoea pityocampa (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775), a forest pest from the Palearctic, are thought to induce a behavioral response of bats, but up to now the moth has been seldom identified as bats’ prey. Studies on bat diets suggest moths with cyclical outbreaks attract a wide array of bat species from different foraging guilds. We test whether bats feed upon T. pityocampa in the Iberian Peninsula irrespective of the predator’s ecological and morphological features. We found that seven out of ten bat species belonging to different foraging guilds contained T. pityocampa DNA in their faeces and no difference was found in the foraging frequency among foraging guilds. A different size of the typical prey or the lack of fondness for moths can explain the absence of the pest in some bat species. Moreover, the intraspecific foraging frequency of T. pityocampa also changed with the sampling site likely representing differential availability of the moth. Lack of information on flight and dispersal behavior or the tympanate nature of the adult moth complicates understanding how different foraging guilds of bats prey upon the same prey. Our data suggests that T. pityocampa is a remarkable food source for many thousands of individual bats in the study area and we anticipate that more bats besides the species studied here are consuming this moth.

Combining DNA metabarcoding and ecological networks to inform conservation biocontrol by small vertebrate predators

“…2020), and that individual pest species may be preyed upon by several bat predators (Garin et al. 2019). However, the diversity of pests was much higher in ours than in previous studies, possibly because we sampled a wide range of bat species with different habitat preferences and foraging strategies, which in turn may contribute to increase the range of prey consumed by the predator community.…”

Irregular silviculture positively influences multiple bat species in a lowland temperate broadleaf woodland

“…Broadleaf woodland provides keystone resources on which many species depend (Mendes et al 2017, Boughey et al 2011. Bats are an important indicator of changes in the structure and function of managed temperate woodlands (Jones et al 2009, Kalda et al 2015 and provide important forest ecosystem services (Garin et al 2019). The availability of insect prey (Tillon et al 2018), the ability of bats to forage effectively (Müller et al 2012, Adams et al 2009, microhabitat features important for roost availability (Regnery et al 2013, Tillon et al 2015, Russo et al 2016, and abundance of standing deadwood (Carr et al 2019, Tillon et al 2018, Dietz et al 2018, Lučan et al 2009, Russo et al 2004, can influence bat abundance and are all affected by woodland management.…”

Bat aggregational response to pest caterpillar emergence

“…While consumption of adult stages does not automatically lead to pest reduction 7 , it may be still important for biocontrol if their occurrence in faecal samples is suitably high 26 . More effective suppression would occur in cases of predation by multiple species 25 . This is likely to be the case for O. brumata , which is targeted during both its spring and autumn emergences by multiple bat species 23 , 42 .…”