Attractiveness of baits to dung beetles in Brazilian savanna and exotic pasturelands

Abstract

The Brazilian savanna is the second largest ecosystem in Brazil. It is also one of the most endangered, with only 20% of its habitat remaining unchanged. Agriculture and livestock have been indicated as the main agents of destruction of the Brazilian savanna. Brazilian livestock, for example, is the main reason for cultivation of exotic grasses such as Urochloa spp. (from Africa). Dung beetles are widely used in ecological assessment, mainly because they are recognized as bioindicators of environmental changes. Therefore, efficient sampling is required for any research involving the biodiversity of this group. In order to mitigate the lack of information on efficiency of the attractiveness of baits in the endangered Brazilian savanna and in exotic pasturelands, we sampled dung beetles in four native patches of the Brazilian savanna and in four areas of pastures with Urochloa spp. Dung beetles were captured with pitfall traps baited with carcass, cattle dung, human feces and pig dung, with a total sampling effort of 384 traps. We sampled 7544 individuals belonging to 43 species and 18 genera of dung beetles. Thirty‐eight species were collected in the Brazilian savanna and 24 species in exotic pastureland. In both ecosystems traps baited with human feces sampled greater abundance and species richness of dung beetles when compared with the other three baits used. Our results showed that human feces is a reliable, easy and inexpensive bait to sample greater abundance and species richness of generalist dung beetles in both native and exotic habitats, with clear structural differences.

Patterns of alimentary resource use by dung beetles in introduced Brazilian pastures: Cattle versus sheep dung

“…Although we obtained a high sampling efficiency in cattle dung (98%), we sampled a low number of species in this bait (S = 9). However, this result is similar to the number of dung beetle species found by Correa et al (2016) using cattle dung in the same study region (S = 12), reflecting a community less rich in species when compared to studies in other locations in Brazil (see Louzada & Carvalho e Silva 2009). Genieridium bidens was dominant in sheep dung, corroborating the results found by Correa et al (2013).…”

Evaluation of baits for trapping of Neotropical flower chafer beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Cetoniinae)

“…; Correa et al . ). Therefore, the fact that there is still no standardization on the ideal bait for flower chafer beetle sampling in the wild, limits studies regarding the ecology of the group, as well as systematic collections seeking species surveys for taxonomic studies.…”

“…Gardiner & Hill 2006;Missa et al 2009;Vrdoljak & Samways 2012), an accurate sampling of their populations and/or communities is vital to any research involving the biodiversity of beetles (e.g. Marsh et al 2013;Correa et al 2016). Therefore, the fact that there is still no standardization on the ideal bait for flower chafer beetle sampling in the wild, limits studies regarding the ecology of the group, as well as systematic collections seeking species surveys for taxonomic studies.…”

Dung beetle trophic ecology: are we misunderstanding resources attraction?

“…In the case of coprophagous, necrophagous, and generalist species (general experiment), trophic attractions were consistent to those found in previous studies (da Silva et al ., 2012; Bogoni & Hernández, 2014; Correa et al ., 2016; Giménez Gómez et al ., 2018a). Two exceptions were D. komareki and C. cyanescens , which showed similar attraction to carrion and decomposing fungi (sapro‐necrophagous species).…”