Pests for Dinner: Dietary Composition of Insectivorous Bats in a Fragmented Tropical Dry Forest

ABSTRACT Insectivorous bats are key predators of a wide array of arthropods, including species that act as disease vectors and pests, yet such ecological roles remain poorly studied in tropical regions. In this study, we aimed to describe the diet of five insectivorous bat species from the genera Balantiopteryx , Myotis , Mormoops , and Pteronotus inhabiting a fragmented tropical dry forest in central Mexico. Over 300 individuals were captured during the 2022 rainy season, and their diets were characterized using DNA metabarcoding techniques. Our results revealed a broad diet spanning 21 arthropod orders, with Lepidoptera, Diptera, and Coleoptera being the most frequently consumed orders. Overall, dietary overlap among bat species was high, with limited interspecific differentiation. Importantly, all five species consumed major agricultural pests (e.g., Spodoptera frugiperda and S. albula ) and—except for M. megalophylla —also consumed vectors such as Aedes vexans and Culex tarsalis . These findings highlight the potential of tropical insectivorous bats to regulate pest and vector populations. Conserving bat populations in tropical dry forests will be essential to sustain their potential ecosystem services in pest suppression and disease control.