Abstract
We conducted diet analysis of four species of leaf-nosed bats (Hipposideros hypophyllus, H. durgadasi, H. fulvus, and H. speoris) cohabiting a roost in the Kolar district, Karnataka, India using metabarcoding fecal DNA technique. We collected fecal pellets of these bats returning to the roost after the first feeding bout over different seasons. The whole diet of all these species consisted of 7,309 OTUs belonging to phylum Arthropoda. Although no significant difference among the whole diets of the four species was found, H. hypophyllus consumed the most amount of insect taxa (4,114 species) compared to others. The core diets consisted of 49 taxa belonging to 10 orders, 37 families, 46 genera. A significant difference was found among the core diets, with H. hypophyllus and H. speoris feeding on more varied insects. There was no overlap in diets and the bat species were observed to be diet specialists. Prey items belonging to orders Lepidoptera and Diptera were abundant in the diet of all four species of bats. The core diet of H. hypophyllus varied significantly between the seasons, with greater than 70% intake of lepidopteran insects in the monsoon and winter seasons. Our study reveals that these bats feed on insect pests too thus playing a role as biocontrollers.