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Rice represents the main staple food for more than half of the world’s population, playing an essential role in food security and economic growth. One of the major pests affecting this crop is the striped rice stem borer moth (Chilo suppressalis), a widespread species found in Australasia, Asia and southern Europe. Bats are paramount insect consumers and their role as natural pest controllers in agriculture has been increasingly acknowledged, including in rice paddies. In this study we quantify, for the first time in Europe, the economic value of the ecosystem services provided by insectivorous bats as suppressors of a rice pest through exclusion experiments in rice plantations in Spain. Our study design included exclosures that prevented bats from hunting over some experimental areas, combined with molecular analyses of bat guano. By assessing the crop damage levels caused by C. supressalis inside and outside …