Dung Beetle Species Research Articles

Behavioural repeatability in dung beetles is not limited to subsocial and sexual horn dimorphic species: the case of Geotrupes mutator (Coleoptera, Geotrupidae)

Abstract The study of temperament and behavioural syndromes in insects is still in its early stage, and research conducted to date has mainly focused on locomotor activity and thanatosis. Dung beetles have been the subject of extensive behavioural studies; however, very few studies have addressed the expression of temperament. Those doing so only looked at subsocial and sexual horn dimorphic species, suggesting subsociality and/or sexual horn-dimorphism as possible facilitators of temperament expression. To test this assumption, we conducted a temperament study in a hornless, non-subsocial species, namely Geotrupes mutator (Marsham, 1802). We set up laboratory tests to evaluate three behaviours (activity, thanatosis, and distress calls) through the measurement of seven distinct behavioural traits (three activity-, one thanatosis- and three call-related traits). We found high levels of individual repeatability in all activity- and thanatosis-related traits. We also identified behavioural differences between individuals, which may reflect differences in temperament. Statistical analyses revealed a negative correlation between activity and thanatosis. These results show that the temperament and behavioural syndromes related to activity and thanatosis may also be expressed in dung beetle species that are neither subsocial nor sexual horn dimorphic. By contrast, we only found one of three sound-related traits tested (frequency) to be clearly repeatable. Males and females presented a different structure of the stridulatory apparatus, suggesting that morphology may affect the frequency of sounds emitted. These results indicate that certain sound traits might not be good descriptors of individual temperament revealing the need for future research addressing the role of bioacoustics.

Contributions to the Coleopteran (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Histeridae and Hydrophilidae) Fauna Found in Animal (Cow, Donkey, Camel, Sheep, Chicken) Feces in Karacadağ (Diyarbakır, Mardin, Şanlıurfa)

This study was carried out in order to determine dung beetles in the order Coleoptera (Scarabaeidae, Histeridae and Hydrophilidae) in Karacadağ Mountain (Diyarbakır, Mardin, Şanlıurfa provinces) during 2017-2018. As a result of this study, 13 species belonging to Scarabaeidae, 2 species belonging to Hydrophilidae and 1 species belonging to Histeridae families were determined. Totally, 16 species were found. Of these, Aphodius (Otophorus) haemorrhoidalis, A. contaminatus, A. fimetarius, Atholus bimaculatus, Biralus satellitius, Scarabaeus sacer, Sphaeridium marginatum and S. scarabaeoides were recorded for the first time from Diyarbakır, Mardin, Şanlıurfa provinces. Cheironitis pamphilus was recorded for the first time from Diyarbakır and Sanlıurfa provinces and also Colobopterus erraticus, Euonthophagus amyntas alces and E. atramentarius were recorded for the first time from Mardin province. In this study, S. scarabaeoides (21.66%) was the most predominant dung beetle species found. The highest number of adult dung beetle species were recorded in Şanlıurfa Province accounting for 72.57 %. The lowest number of adult dung beetle species were recorded in Mardin Province accounting for 8.82 %.

The dung beetles of Venezuela (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae): catalogue and updated distribution

Venezuela’s diverse land ecosystems are grouped into four major regions (coast-islands, low plains, hills and mountains), ranging from sea level up to 4978 m. The Scarabaeinae (Scarabaeidae, Coleoptera) currently encompass 278 genera and 6837 species worldwide, but are poorly inventoried in Venezuela. We reviewed the literature and the material housed at the entomological collection of the Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (CEMT), Cuiabá, Brazil, and found 32 genera and 149 species of dung beetles as certainly present in Venezuela. Twenty-four of these species are, as far as current knowledge goes, endemic to the country, while another 34 are restricted to Venezuela and the neighbouring countries of Colombia, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, and Guyana. Additionally, 36 species are deemed potential inhabitants of the country, whilst 14 others previously recorded in the literature as part of the Venezuelan fauna are here concluded not to be actually present there. Complete literature is listed for each genus and species, and information on type material, material examined, worldwide distribution, and Venezuelan records is also presented.

The association between pasture systems, dung removal and colonization by a local Australian temperate dung beetle assemblage

Abstract Herbivore dung quality (physical and chemical parameters) varies between animal species and animal diet which is influenced by seasonal fluctuations and farm management practices. Subsequently, this influences the reproductive success of dung beetles. In Australian pasture systems, how the introduced dung beetle assemblage interacts in the field with cattle dung derived from different resources is unknown. This study quantifies the colonization by dung beetles (abundance, species richness and evenness) and removal of cattle dung derived from three common temperate pasture systems (improved native, forage oat and rye/clover pasture, henceforth dung type) over 24 h for 12 months. From the three dung types, 13 species of dung beetle were captured. Abundance and species richness were influenced by month and transect, with weak evidence for differences between dung types influencing overall abundance: Onthophagus binodis (49.7%), Aphodius fimetarius (24.4%) and Labarrus lividus (17.1%) were the most abundant species. Dung removal (organic matter) was influenced by month and dung type, with more dung buried in improved native (23.9 g) and rye/clover (24.7 g) derived dung compared with forage oat (12.3 g) dung. Dung beetle abundance was positively correlated with removal of all dung types, with O. binodis biomass significantly influencing dung removal. This study showed that diet of bovine animals weakly influences the abundance of a local dung beetle assemblage, warranting further investigation on the influence of other dung types in different regions. Improvements to reporting of pasture species and growth stage is recommended for comparisons between dung derived sources.

Different habitat condition proportions on farms affect the structure and diversity of dung beetle (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) communities

The continuous changes and increase of land use into ranching and agriculture have caused shifts in the composition and structure of dung beetle communities due to the modification of vegetation structure. The impact of these changes can be approached using dung beetles as ecological indicators. Agricultural, ranching, and forestry are often integrated into the same farm in different proportions (landscape level), and their degree of integration with habitats changes over time and space. We assessed if different habitat proportions of crop, pasture, and forest land on three farms affect the structure and diversity of dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) communities. Farms included from three to four habitat conditions each (plantations of timber species, banana-coffee plantation, living fences, pastures, secondary and riparian forest). Pitfall traps with dung and carrion as bait were placed across each habitat condition of each farm during three different sampling periods. Across all samplings, 1,198 dung beetle individuals belonging to 21 species were captured. Species diversity and composition vary according to the type of farm and the main factor that modifies this tendency is the proportion of pasture land composing the farm. Farms with a lower proportion of grazing land (11.96% for forestry farms and 32.19% for agricultural farms) and denser vegetation canopy, which cast more shadows, had greater beetle diversity. Conversely, farms having a greater proportion of grazing land had low diversity and a dominant tendency in the species abundance curve. Umbraphile species dominated the forest farm, indicating a strong affinity for shaded environments such as the one provided there, while species displaying no habitat preference exhibited higher abundance in the ranching farm. Additionally, a notable prevalence of small-sized species was observed in the ranching farm, contrasting with a relatively even distribution of sizes in the remaining landscapes. These tendencies suggest that shade positively influences biodiversity conservation. Riparian vegetation, living fences, and banana-coffee plantations are important connectivity elements in agricultural landscapes for shade-adapted dung beetle species.

Metabolic and enzymatic variability among dung beetle species in India

Metabolic and enzymatic variability among dung beetle species in India

New data on trophic associations of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) and lemurs (Primates, Lemuroidea) in Madagascar revealed by metabarcoding.

Resource use and diet specialisation of Madagascan dung beetles have been little studied especially concerning the possible associations between specific dung beetle and lemur species. Pilot studies have demonstrated that amplicon sequencing is a promising tool for the lemur inventories. In the present contribution, we report the results of the gut content analysis of three endemic Madagascan dung beetles species: Helictopleurusclouei (Harold), Epilissusapotolamproides (Lebis) and Nanosdubitatus (Lebis). Amplicon metagenomics revealed trophic associations of these species with Eulemursanfordi (Archbold), Eu.fulvus (É.Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire) and Cheirogaleuscrossleyi (Grandidier), respectively. The reads of other mammal species, revealed by the analysis, including putative contaminations, are discussed.

Species composition of dung beetles (Scarabaeiade: Scarabaeinae) from different habitat types in a protected area in eastern Africa

AbstractUnderstanding the composition and distribution of dung beetle species across various habitat types is crucial for elucidating their ecosystem functions. Dung beetles play pivotal roles in ecological processes such as nutrient cycling, seed dispersal and parasite suppression. Despite numerous studies on the influence of habitat types on dung beetle communities, knowledge gaps persist, particularly on how these beetles respond to different vegetation types in protected areas. In this study, we surveyed dung beetle species in Nyerere National Park, Tanzania, using baited pitfall traps across four habitat types: closed miombo woodland, open miombo woodland, marshland and riverine. We identified a total of 5534 individuals representing 63 species, 29 genera and nine tribes. Significant variations in species diversity were observed among the habitats, with the closed miombo woodland exhibiting the highest diversity and the open miombo woodland the lowest. Notably, certain species, such as Euoniticellus intermedius, Euonthophagus carbonarius, Gymnopleurus ignites, Onitis alexis, Onthophagus, Onthophagus vinctus, Onthophagus plebejus and Sisyphus goryi displayed a generalist distribution across all habitat types. Our findings underscore the critical importance of maintaining and conserving the quality of diverse habitat types to ensure the long‐term preservation of dung beetle biodiversity and the ecosystem services they provide. This study contributes valuable insights into dung beetle ecology and offers practical implications for ecosystem management and conservation strategies.

Alpha and beta‐diversity and community structure of dung beetle assemblages in an East African protected savannah

AbstractFew studies have examined how dung beetle species composition changes across several mammalian dung types. Species composition and abundance of dung beetles were studied in dung samples of seven African mammals along animal trails and using 14 baited‐pitfall traps in both the park and the buffer zone resulting in a combined data set of 113 samples. Both the number of species (18) and the number of individual dung beetles (600) encountered were low for an area close to the Equator. Few species (2) and herbivores (13) tunnellers (9) dominated the dung beetles community, feeding and guild structure respectively. Alpha diversity was moderate 2.06 (1 < H′ ≤ 3). Beta diversity ranged from low 0.8 (high similarity) to high (zero, no similarity). Dung beetle species composition varied with dung type with the degree of pairwise similarity between two dung types in 19 of the total (21) dung beetle communities comparisons showing low similarity (0.4) to no similarity (zero). The observed discrepancies may be attributed to dung size, composition and consistency as well as to the low number of dung of the different animal species sampled. Furthermore, further research is needed as rarefaction curves suggest that sampling was incomplete.

Antifungal capabilities of gut microbial communities of three dung beetle species (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae).

Gut microbial communities are part of the regulatory array of various processes within their hosts, ranging from nutrition to pathogen control. Recent evidence shows that dung beetle's gut microbial communities release substances with antifungal activity. Because of the enormous diversity of gut microorganisms in dung beetles, there is a possibility of discovering novel compounds with antifungal properties. We tested the antifungal activity mediated by gut microbial communities of female dung beetles against nine phytopathogenic fungi strains (Colletotrichum asianum-339, C. asianum-340, C. asianum-1, C. kahawae-390, C. karstii-358, C. siamense-220, Fusarium oxysporum-ATCC338, Nectria pseudotrichia-232, Verticillium zaelandica-22). Our tests included the gut microbial communities of three species of dung beetles: Canthon cyanellus (roller beetle), Digitonthophagus gazella (burrower beetle), and Onthophagus batesi (burrower beetle), and we followed the dual confrontation protocol, i.e., we challenged each fungal strain with the microbial communities of each species of beetles in Petri dishes containing culture medium. Our results showed that gut microbial communities of the three dung beetle species exhibit antifungal activity against at least seven of the nine phytopathogenic fungal strains. The gut microbial communities of Onthophagus batesi significantly decreased the mycelial growth of the nine phytopathogenic fungi strains; the gut microbial communities of Canthon cyanellus and Digitonthophagus gazella significantly reduced the mycelial growth of seven strains. These results provide a basis for investigating novel antifungal substances within gut microbial communities of dung beetles.

First report of dung beetle species of genus Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar, India

First report of dung beetle species of genus Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Valmiki Tiger Reserve, Bihar, India

New World dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) colonization of a recent Miocene insular territory: The case of Costa Rica.

Costa Rica emerged from the seas as a new geological territory during the Miocene as an insular archipelago. It later became part of a continental area once it became a segment of Central America. Two dung beetle genera that colonized this new territory from South and North America, Canthidium and Onthophagus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), are here studied, in the first analysis of a volcanic paleo-archipelago, colonized from its emergence, and then later becoming terra firma. To assess their biodiversity distribution patterns, we analyzed the effect of biogeography, ecosystem origins, and body size on their altitudinal distribution patterns in three geographic basins of Costa Rica. Based on 32 years of collecting representing more than 158,000 specimens from 1017 localities, we undertook Generalized Linear Models of the two dung beetle genera to assess the effects of biodiversity and biogeographical distribution patterns. Canthidium and Onthophagus species ranged from 0 to 3000 m a.s.l., with an abrupt diversity decline at altitudes above 1500 m. Endemic species tended to show a higher altitudinal mean with a narrow altitudinal band distribution than non-endemic dung beetle species. Although there was a trend of decreasing species body size with the increase in altitude, such a trend depended on the distribution pattern of the species group. This possible insular-mediated endemicity mechanism has generated baffling biodiversity levels, considered the highest worldwide per unit area. Costa Rica is an expanse represented by a geographic overlap of two or more temporally disjunct areas and is not part of a natural transition zone. The effect of the insular Miocene origin of Costa Rica still pervades today, reflected by different insular syndromes shown by the dung beetle fauna. The importance of geological origins in generating biodiversity seems to have been an underrated criterion for conservation biology practices and should be considered ex officio.

Deliberately introduced dung beetles in Australia: 12 years of occurrence and abundance records from 2001 to 2022.

Since 1968, the Australian Dung Beetle Project has carried out field releases of 43 deliberately introduced dung beetle species for the biological control of livestock dung and dung-breeding pests. Of these, 23 species are known to have become established. For most of these species, sufficient time has elapsed for population expansion to fill the extent of their potential geographic range through both natural and human-assisted dispersal. Consequently, over the last 20 years, extensive efforts have been made to quantify the current distribution of these introduced dung beetles, as well as the seasonal and spatial variation in their activity levels. Much of these data and their associated metadata have remained unpublished, and they have not previously been synthesized into a cohesive dataset. Here, we collate and report data from the three largest dung beetle monitoring projects from 2001 to 2022. Together, these projects encompass data collected from across Australia, and include records for all 23 species of established dung beetles introduced for biocontrol purposes. In total, these data include 22,718 presence records and 213,538 absence records collected during 10,272 sampling events at 546 locations. Most presence records (97%) include abundance data. In total, 1,752,807 dung beetles were identified as part of these data. The distributional occurrence and abundance data can be used to explore questions such as factors influencing dung beetle species distributions, dung beetle biocontrol, and insect-mediated ecosystem services. These data are provided under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 license and users are encouraged to cite this data paper when using the data.

Mammal species biodiversity in a Costa Rican protected tropical rainforest environment

Tropical rainforest deforestation has led to old-growth forest loss and declines in species diversity worldwide. In the 1980’s, Costa Rica began innovative reforestation efforts and currently 52% of Costa Rica is a tropical forest environment. However, the impact of Costa Rica’s reforestation efforts on regaining species biodiversity is less known. The aim of this study was to consider longitudinal changes in mammal biodiversity at La Selva Biological Station (LSBS) following reforestation. Mammal species census data were collected between 1994 and 2017 by 30-60 trained and experienced Citizen Scientists. We calculated the total number of different species sighted per year, their relative abundance, and the Shannon Index to estimate biodiversity. Linear regression was used to consider change over time and ANOVA was used to consider differences in land and water use by mammal species (p<0.05). Results suggest the total number of different species observed declined, their relative abundance declined, and the Shannon index of biodiversity declined (p<0.05). This decline is similar to that reported for avian fauna, terrestrial amphibian, and dung beetle species reported at LSBS. Our study highlights the concern that past deforestation continues to lead to species decline and the ongoing need for tropical forest stewardship.

Cephalodesmius carminya, a new flightless dung beetle species from the Central Mackay Coast, Queensland.

A new species from the genus Cephalodesmius Westwood (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) is described from the Cental Mackay Coast bioregion, Queensland extending the northern range of the genus. Cephalodesmius carminya Ebert & Gunter new species is known from two localities in the Pine Mountain, Carminya Forest Reserve and 2.5 km west of Eungella dam. A key to the four species of Cephalodesmius is provided and we discuss morphological similarities between Cephalodesmius and its closest relative Canthonosoma Macleay.

Unraveling the biodiversity in the Brazilian wetlands: dung beetle assemblage in different vegetation types in the Araguaia Pantanal

ABSTRACT The Araguaia Pantanal is characterized by a mosaic of vegetation with high biodiversity. However, our understanding of this biodiversity remains limited and understudied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the distribution patterns of dung beetles in different vegetation types (Deciduous Forest, Savanna, Riparian Forest, Murundu Fields, and Exotic Pastures). In addition, we analyzed how forest cover influence the species richness, abundance, and species composition of dung beetles. A total of 12,746 dung beetles representing 67 different species were captured and examined. Our findings revealed that the Murundu Fields exhibited lower species richness and abundance of dung beetles, indicating the influence of distinct vegetation types directly associated with flood pulses in the region. Furthermore, the species composition of the Murundu Fields was found to be a subset of the adjacent vegetation, primarily composed of Savanna and Deciduous Forest species. Additionally, our results demonstrated that tree cover played a significant role in driving dung beetle species turnover among the studied sites, highlighting the species’ response to the existing gradient of vegetational changes within the region. We believe that our study contributes valuable insights into the distribution and ecological dynamics of dung beetles in the Araguaia Pantanal.

Genome evolution and divergence in cis-regulatory architecture is associated with condition-responsive development in horned dung beetles.

Phenotypic plasticity is thought to be an important driver of diversification and adaptation to environmental variation, yet the genomic mechanisms mediating plastic trait development and evolution remain poorly understood. The Scarabaeinae, or true dung beetles, are a species-rich clade of insects recognized for their highly diversified nutrition-responsive development including that of cephalic horns-evolutionarily novel, secondary sexual weapons that exhibit remarkable intra- and interspecific variation. Here, we investigate the evolutionary basis for horns as well as other key dung beetle traits via comparative genomic and developmental assays. We begin by presenting chromosome-level genome assemblies of three dung beetle species in the tribe Onthophagini (> 2500 extant species) including Onthophagus taurus, O. sagittarius, and Digitonthophagus gazella. Comparing these assemblies to those of seven other species across the order Coleoptera identifies evolutionary changes in coding sequence associated with metabolic regulation of plasticity and metamorphosis. We then contrast chromatin accessibility in developing head horn tissues of high- and low-nutrition O. taurus males and females and identify distinct cis-regulatory architectures underlying nutrition- compared to sex-responsive development, including a large proportion of recently evolved regulatory elements sensitive to horn morph determination. Binding motifs of known and new candidate transcription factors are enriched in these nutrition-responsive open chromatin regions. Our work highlights the importance of chromatin state regulation in mediating the development and evolution of plastic traits, demonstrates gene networks are highly evolvable transducers of environmental and genetic signals, and provides new reference-quality genomes for three species that will bolster future developmental, ecological, and evolutionary studies of this insect group.

Sexually transmitted mutualist nematodes shape host growth across dung beetle species.

Many symbionts are sexually transmitted and impact their host's development, ecology, and evolution. While the significance of symbionts that cause sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) is relatively well understood, the prevalence and potential significance of the sexual transmission of mutualists remain elusive. Here, we study the effects of sexually transmitted mutualist nematodes on their dung beetle hosts. Symbiotic Diplogastrellus monhysteroides nematodes are present on the genitalia of male and female Onthophagus beetles and are horizontally transmitted during mating and vertically passed on to offspring during oviposition. A previous study indicates that the presence of nematodes benefits larval development and life history in a single host species, Onthophagus taurus. However, Diplogastrellus nematodes can be found in association with a variety of beetle species. Here, we replicate these previous experiments, assess whether the beneficial effects extend to other host species, and test whether nematode-mediated effects differ between male and female host beetles. Rearing three relatively distantly related dung beetle species with and without nematodes, we find that the presence of nematodes benefits body size, but not development time or survival across all three species. Likewise, we found no difference in the benefit of nematodes to male compared to female beetles. These findings highlight the role of sexually transmitted mutualists in the evolution and ecology of dung beetles.

Screening and Isolation of Xylanolytic Filamentous Fungi from the Gut of Scarabaeidae Dung Beetles and Dung Beetle Larvae.

Research on renewable biotechnology for renewable biofuel applications has reached new heights. This is highlighted by extensive biomining for novel enzymes to reduce the production costs from animal and insect gut microbiomes. This study explored the diversity and composition of hemicellulolytic fungi in the gut microbiota from dung beetles of the family Scarabaeidae (Pachylomerus femoralis, Anachalcos convexus and Euoniticellus intermedius). Two hundred and twenty-two filamentous fungi were isolated, purified and identified using rDNA sequencing of the ITS and D1/D2 regions. The fungal isolates were assigned to 12 genera and 25 species. Fungi associated with the genus Aspergillus was in abundance, with Hypocrea lixii predominantly isolated. Isolates that produced more than 3 U/mL of xylanase activity were evaluated further. The highest xylanase activity was of 23.6 and 23.5 U/mL for L1XYL9 (E. intermedius larvae) and Hypocrea lixii AB2A3 (A. convexus), respectively. Phylogeny of the fungal strains with xylanolytic activity was analysed using ITS rDNA sequences and revealed close genetic relatedness between isolates from the different dung beetle species. Fungal genera commonly found in the gut of both adult beetles and larvae included Aspergillus, Hypocrea, Talaromyces and Penicillium. The results obtained in this study suggest that the gut of Scarabaeidae dung beetles in South Africa is a rich source of xylanolytic fungi.

Habitat loss reduces abundance and body size of forest-dwelling dung beetles in an Amazonian urban landscape

The loss of forest cover in urban landscapes alters the dynamics of spatial and food resources, challenging the maintenance of forest species, which may have their condition compromised. Dung beetles are sensitive to changes in vegetation structure and land use caused by human activities, processes that are intrinsically related to the establishment and development of cities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of landscape structure on the abundance and morphological characteristics of two species of dung beetle (Dichotomius boreus and Dichotomius quadrilobatus) that inhabit forested areas in urbanized landscapes in the Amazon region. We carried out the study in 38 landscapes located in six urban regions in the central region of the Amazon. We evaluated the effect of landscape structure, at the site and city scales, on beetle abundance, individual body size, and relative horn length of males. At the local scale, landscapes with greater forest cover showed greater abundance of dung beetles, as well as greater lengths of D. boreus horns. Cities with a greater amount of forest cover had larger individuals than those with less forest cover. We conclude that forested areas in urban landscapes are a key habitat for the maintenance of dung beetle populations with a strong relationship between the amount of forest cover in the landscape. The maintenance of healthy and abundant populations of beetles in urban Amazonian landscapes guarantees the persistence of ecosystem services provided by these organisms in urban ecosystems.