scholarly journals The role of the subelytral spiracles in respiration in the flightless dung beetle Circellium bacchus

2003 ◽  
Vol 206 (8) ◽  
pp. 1309-1318 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Circellium Bacchus

scholarly journals Wood Pastures: A Transitional Habitat between Forests and Pastures for Dung Beetle Assemblages

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 25
Author(s):  
László Somay ◽  
Viktor Szigeti ◽  
Gergely Boros ◽  
Réka Ádám ◽  
András Báldi
Keyword(s):  
Functional Group ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Livestock Grazing ◽  
Pitfall Traps ◽  
Assemblage Composition ◽  
Beetle Assemblages

Wood pastures are home to a variety of species, including the dung beetle. Dung beetles are an important functional group in decomposition. Specifically, in terms of livestock manure, they not only contribute to nutrient cycling but are key players in supporting human and animal health. Dung beetles, however, are declining in population, and urgent recommendations are needed to reverse this trend. Recommendations need to be based on solid evidence and specific habitats. Herein, we aimed to investigate the role of an intermediate habitat type between forests and pastures. Wood pastures are key areas for dung beetle conservation. For this reason, we compared dung beetle assemblages among forests, wood pastures, and grasslands. We complemented this with studies on the effects of dung type and season at three Hungarian locations. Pitfall traps baited with cattle, sheep, or horse dung were used in forests, wood pastures, and pasture habitats in spring, summer, and autumn. Dung beetle assemblages of wood pastures showed transient characteristics between forests and pastures regarding their abundance, species richness, Shannon diversity, assemblage composition, and indicator species. We identified a strong effect of season and a weak of dung type. Assemblage composition proved to be the most sensitive measure of differences among habitats. The conservation of dung beetles, and the decomposition services they provide, need continuous livestock grazing to provide fresh dung, as well as the maintenance of wood pastures where dung beetle assemblages typical of forests and pastures can both survive.

scholarly journals The role of habitat and daily activity patterns in explaining the diversity of mountain Neotropical dung beetle assemblages

2018 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 300-312
Author(s):  
Pedro G. da Silva ◽  
Jorge M. Lobo ◽  
Malva Isabel Medina Hernández
Keyword(s):  
Daily Activity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Beetle Assemblages ◽  
Daily Activity Patterns

scholarly journals The role of the sun in the celestial compass of dung beetles

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1636) ◽  
pp. 20130036 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dacke ◽  
Basil el Jundi ◽  
Jochen Smolka ◽  
Marcus Byrne ◽  
Emily Baird
Keyword(s):  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Relative Influence ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Azimuthal Position ◽  
Ball Rolling ◽  
Straight Line ◽  
Celestial Compass ◽  
Compass System

Recent research has focused on the different types of compass cues available to ball-rolling beetles for orientation, but little is known about the relative precision of each of these cues and how they interact. In this study, we find that the absolute orientation error of the celestial compass of the day-active dung beetle Scarabaeus lamarcki doubles from 16° at solar elevations below 60° to an error of 29° at solar elevations above 75°. As ball-rolling dung beetles rely solely on celestial compass cues for their orientation, these insects experience a large decrease in orientation precision towards the middle of the day. We also find that in the compass system of dung beetles, the solar cues and the skylight cues are used together and share the control of orientation behaviour. Finally, we demonstrate that the relative influence of the azimuthal position of the sun for straight-line orientation decreases as the sun draws closer to the horizon. In conclusion, ball-rolling dung beetles possess a dynamic celestial compass system in which the orientation precision and the relative influence of the solar compass cues change over the course of the day.

Role of dung beetle feeding mechanisms in limiting the suitability of species as hosts for the nematodeSpirocerca lupi

2012 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-457 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. DU TOIT ◽  
P. HOLTER ◽  
H. LUTERMANN ◽  
C. H. SCHOLTZ
Keyword(s):  
Dung Beetle

scholarly journals Revisiting spatial and temporal patterns of dung beetles in Brazilian Pampa: the role of β-diversity process-related components

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Giovâni da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Species Turnover ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Dung Beetles ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Patterns ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Scales ◽  
Dissimilarity Coefficient ◽  
Β Diversity ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Forest Ecotone

β-diversity is a key measure to understand biodiversity patterns across spatial and temporal scales. In this study, two published datasets on dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) from Brazilian Pampa are re-analyzed aiming to investigate the role of β-diversity process-related components based on composition- and abundance-based approaches for both spatial (grassland-forest ecotone) and temporal (samplings along a year) scales. Dung beetles were sampled in a grassland-forest ecotone in October 2006 and in a grassland area monthly during an entire year (December 2006 to November 2007), using baited pitfall traps. β-diversity was decomposed into turnover and nestedness-resultant components based on Jaccard dissimilarity coefficient, and also into balanced variation in abundance and abundance gradients based on Bray-Curtis dissimilarity coefficient. Both environmental (spatial scale) and climatic (temporal scale) differences affected dung beetles similarly in terms of species replacement and nestedness patterns, and similarly in terms of variation in abundance and abundance gradients. For both spatial and temporal approach, the species turnover and the variation in species abundances were higher, while nestedness patterns and abundance gradients were of minor relative importance.

Aggregation and coexistence of dung beetles in montane rain forest and deforested sites in central Peru

2006 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 359-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Finbarr G. Horgan
Keyword(s):  
Species Coexistence ◽  
Spatial Scales ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Forest Habitat ◽  
Disturbed Habitat ◽  
Montane Rain Forest ◽  
Beetle Assemblages ◽  
Resource Patches

The ‘aggregation model of coexistence’ predicts that a strong and independent aggregation of species across ephemeral resource patches promotes species coexistence and maintains diversity. This study examines the role of aggregation in maintaining tropical dung beetle diversity and the effects of deforestation on aggregation patterns and diversity loss. Using clusters of pitfall traps, dung beetle aggregation was quantified in natural and disturbed habitat at nested temporal and spatial scales in central Peru. The results indicate that dung was colonized by a greater number of species, many of which were large, leading to a higher total beetle biomass in forest habitat than in deforested, farm habitat. Beetles were intraspecifically aggregated at each spatial scale examined. Habitat-type (forest/deforested) had no effect on the intensity of intra- or interspecific aggregation. Analyses of aggregation patterns revealed that dung beetle assemblages in forest habitat were generally saturated whereas in deforested habitat they were unsaturated. In general, interspecific aggregation was too weak relative to intraspecific aggregation to explain the high diversity of species in forest habitat. Other mechanisms, including resource partitioning are likely to play a greater role in maintaining the diversity of dung beetle assemblages in the region. These results also indicate that the loss of species from disturbed habitat has not been due to a breakdown in the aggregation mechanism.

Pre- and Post-Copulatory Mate Selection Mechanisms in an African Dung Beetle, Circellium bacchus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 111-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Le Roux ◽  
C. H. Scholtz ◽  
A. A. Kinahan ◽  
P. W. Bateman
Keyword(s):  
Mate Selection ◽  
Dung Beetle ◽  
Selection Mechanisms ◽  
Circellium Bacchus
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