Abstract
Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) are considered essential for enhancing the physicochemical characteristics of soils, principally by changing organic materials (e.g. dead animals, faeces, fruits e leaf litter). This study compared the species richness and abundance of dung beetles captured using various types of baits, to demonstrate attractiveness differences in variable habitats of the Brazilian Amazon. Samplings were carried out with pitfall traps baited with human faeces, rotten banana, rotten meat and a non-baited trap, in February, March, June, September and October 2015. Habitats included native forests, agriculture areas, pastures and disturbed forests in different regeneration stages. A total of 13 736 Scarabaeinae beetles were captured, distributed over 98 species. Most individuals were captured using traps baited with faeces (76.7 % of individuals), followed by rotten meat baited traps (17.8 % of individuals), fermented banana baited traps (3.9 % of individuals) and finally by non-baited traps (1.6 % of individuals). A significant difference in attractiveness of the different baits used and habitats types was observed. Most of the captured assemblages were composed by coprophagous (42 %), generalist species (32 %), necrophagous (15 %) and none was classified as saprophagous. Approximately 54 % of the specimens were tunnelers, 25 % were rollers and 12 % were dwellers. The species of Scarabaeinae sampled in the region revealed qualitative and quantitative differences among their assemblages and the phytophysiognomies. The forest environments housed the greatest species richness observed, and a fraction of these is exclusive of those areas. We concluded that some species of Scarabaeinae have an important potential as disturbance indicators in the Amazonian ecosystem.
Highlights
Mammalian dung is one of the most important food resources for dung beetle communities, being the dominant substrate for oviposition (Filgueiras, Liberal, Aguiar, Hernández, & Iannuzzi, 2009)
The main types of baits used for monitoring dung beetles (DB) are cattle dung (Andresen, 2008; Ueda, Dwibadra, Noerdjito, Kon, & Fukuyama, 2015) and human faeces (Vieira, Louzada, & Spector, 2008)
Understating food preferences of DB assemblages is fundamental to enlighten managers on the effects of changes occurring in tropical regions
Summary
Mammalian dung is one of the most important food resources for dung beetle communities, being the dominant substrate for oviposition (Filgueiras, Liberal, Aguiar, Hernández, & Iannuzzi, 2009). In the Neotropics, fungi, plants and carcasses are used by several species as food resource (Halffter & Matthews, 1966). Different food preferences reduce inter specific competition, allowing the coexistence of diverse DB species, in particular neotropical ecosystems. The present study compared the DB richness, abundance and functional diversity when captured using different types of baits in variable habitats of the Brazilian Amazon, in order to: a) assess the general attractiveness of baits, and b) gauge the relation between specific baits’ diversity and the dominant habitats. The presented method and results could be used to support a standardization of field work for effective ecological monitoring of this group studies in Neotropical areas
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
