Ye Ming Sha

Ye Ming Sha is the dried faeces of insectivorous bats, traditionally collected from species such as Vespertilio superans, Pipistrellus and Murina found in caves across northern and central China. The material consists of small, oblong, dark brown to blackish granules of irregular shape, typically 5-10 mm long, friable when crushed and composed largely of undigested insect chitin (wings, legs and elytra). The granules have a slightly rank, musky odour and a faintly salty, gritty taste. Because the bats feed almost exclusively on night-flying insects, the faeces are rich in fragments of moth and beetle exoskeletons, and Chinese pharmacopoeial standards require that material be free of soil, sand and rodent droppings before processing for medicinal use.