Volume 67, January 2015, Pages 66–71
Crop pests eaten by bats in organic pecan orchards
Highlights
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- Fecal DNA analysis demonstrates consumption by bats of pecan insect pests.
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- Bat houses in organic pecan orchards provide potential bio-control of pests.
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- Indirect effects from the presence of bats may enhance bio-control services.
Abstract
Bats
are generalist predators of night flying insects, including many crop
pests. Attracting bats to agricultural areas using bat houses may reduce
the numbers of these pests and, consequently, their economic impact. We
use real time polymerase chain reaction of mitochondrial DNA found in
the guano of bats living in bat houses on organic pecan orchards to
document the consumption of pest moth species: pecan nut casebearer, Acrobasis nuxvorella Neunzig (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae), hickory shuckworm, Cydia caryana Fitch (Lepidoptera: Torticidae), and corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea
Boddie (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). We also use direct sequencing of
insect remains in bat fecal pellets to identify stink bugs consumed by
bats in bat houses. Evidence that bats prey upon crop pests is the first
step in showing that bats are beneficial to pecan farmers and provides
incentives for bat conservation.
Keywords
- Pecan;
- Bat;
- Pecan nut casebearer;
- Hickory shuckworm;
- Corn earworm;
- Stink bug
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