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Scientists from the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW) and the Prince of Songkla University in Thailand have demonstrated that Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats not only travels great distances, but also hunt at impressive altitudes of up to 1,600 metres above ground – the altitude at which many planthoppers fly, which are dreaded insect pests of rice plants. Conventional methods of pest control such as insecticides do not work at these altitudes.
Rice is the staple food for more than half of the world's population and Southeast Asia, South and East Asia together are the most important regions for its production. Planthoppers cause massive damage to the rice fields there, leading to crop losses and thus considerable financial losses for farmers and even entire economies. The insects are very mobile during their dispersal phase and use winds at altitudes between 300 and 1,000 metres to travel long distances. By restricting the spread of high-flying planthoppers, Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats make an important contribution to pest control and thus also to food security in South and East Asia. The article published in the scientific journal "Oecologia" therefore emphasises how important and valuable it is to protect this bat species.
A scientific team led by Prof Dr Christian Voigt, Head of the Department of Evolutionary Ecology at the Leibniz-IZW, has now shown that the Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat (Mops plicatus) is able to use these heights as hunting grounds. The results are an outcome of a multi-year research project on the flight and hunting behaviour of this bat. “Mops plicatus bat is a skilful hunter that specialises in catching insects in the open air, i.e. above the vegetation”, says Voigt. “Until now, their hunting behaviour during peak planthopper activity was still largely unexplored. We therefore investigated the hunting behaviour of Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats in the entire airspace using miniaturised GPS loggers during this time.”
This bat is a tropical bat species, common in Southeast Asia and known to roost in large caves in colonies of hundreds of thousands to millions of individuals. Earlier studies showed that Mops plicatus feeds on planthoppers, including the brown planthopper (Nilaparvata lugens) and the white-backed planthopper (Sogatella furcifera). When planthoppers appear in large numbers, they travel at high altitudes to raid rice fields in other regions and reproduce there. The team's study period overlapped with the annual mass occurrence of planthoppers in Thailand.
The scientists captured several adult Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats in a cave in Lopburi province, central Thailand, using mist nets and hand nets. They attached a 0.95 gram miniaturized GPS logger to the back of each animal using a medical skin glue. The GPS loggers were programmed to record the spatial position in all three dimensions at 10-minute intervals throughout the night. After a few days, the miniaturized loggers fell off again and were collected by the scientists.
“We were able to demonstrate that Mops plicatus has large foraging areas of up to 1,743 km², which is roughly twice the size of the area of Berlin”, says Voigt. “No vertebrate with a body weight of just 18 grams has ever been reported to have such a foraging range. Some bats travelled distances of more than 200 km from the cave on a single foraging trip and spent up to 11.5 hours in continuous flight in a single night. They spent more than 50 percent of the time at altitudes of more than 150 m above ground, regularly reaching more than 1,600 m above ground.”
Dr Supawan Srilopan, scientist at Prince of Songkla University and first author of the paper, adds: “"Our study provides detailed insights into the aerial choice, habitat selection and foraging behaviour of the Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat. This bat species uses rice fields as hunting grounds, even if these were much further away from the caves than areas with other crops. The preference for rice fields could be a consequence of the greater availability of prey insects such as planthoppers.”
The scientists emphasise the urgent need to preserve and protect the natural habitats, retreats and resting places of this bat species. Although there are many millions of individuals of this bat species, only just under a dozen caves are known to be colonised by bats all year round. Protecting these caves from disturbance, such as tourism, is extremely important, both for local farmers in central Thailand and those in distant farming areas in China, Korea and Japan. “The ecosystem services that Mops plicatus provide to the human population in Thailand and other regions of Southeast Asia extend far beyond local borders. Their contribution to pest control has the potential to sustainably secure rice production in Asia”, adds Prof Sara Bumrungsri from Prince of Songkla University, co-author of the paper.
The research was carried out as part of a four-year project funded by the National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT).
Prof Dr Christian Voigt
Head of the Department of Evolutionary Ecology
Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (Leibniz-IZW)
Phone: +49(0)30 5168 511
E-Mail: voigt@izw-berlin.de
Srilopan S, Lewanzik D, Brumrungsri S, Voigt CC (2024): Large and high-altitude foraging ranges suggests importance of Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bats (Mops plicatus) for consuming dispersing pest insects. Oecologia 207, 33 (2025). DOI: 10.1007/s00442-025-05671-x
Bats leaving a cave in rural Thailand
Christian Voigt
Leibniz-IZW/Christian Voigt
Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat (Mops plicatus)
Christian Voigt
Leibniz-IZW/Christian Voigt
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Biologie, Ernährung / Gesundheit / Pflege, Tier / Land / Forst, Umwelt / Ökologie
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Bats leaving a cave in rural Thailand
Christian Voigt
Leibniz-IZW/Christian Voigt
Wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat (Mops plicatus)
Christian Voigt
Leibniz-IZW/Christian Voigt
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