Research on Bat Diversity and Its Agricultural Eco-Environment Function in Guangzhou City

A research on bat diversity has been done in Guangzhou City.1 400 bats were observed and 91 specimen were collected which belong to 12 species.In addition 3 species were recorded by interview,thus there are 15 species of bats(belonging to 4 families,9 genera) in total in Guangzhou.In which Cynopterus sphinx and Tylonycteris pachypus are listed in the China Red Data Book of Endangered Animals.Our findings showed that 12 species belong to the Oriental type(80% of the total),3 species belong to the Palaearctic type, the Monsoonal type and the South China type respectively(20% of the total).Bats in Guangzhou City have 4 habitat types:Rhinolophus,Hipposideros and Rousettus leschenaulti live in a cave,Cynopterus sphinx and Tylonycteris pachypus,etc,live in a tree,Nyctalus velutinus and Pipistrellus,etc,live in a house,Scotophilus kuhlii live in a tree or a house.Bats play an important ecological roles in the eco-system in Guangzhou City.Entomophagous bats prey on pests such as gnat and miller,etc,they are one of the valid natural enemies of pests.Fruit bats may eat fruit such as litchi,longan and banana,etc.From the questionnaire,75.5% fruit farmer ever suffered from the fruit bat(annually.)