Coprophagous Insects and the Ecology of Infectious Diseases of Wildlife

Abstract

A diversity of macro- and microparasitic species exert strong influences on wildlife population density, community structure, and ecosystem functioning, all through their impacts on individual host fitness. Through consuming, manipulating, and relocating wildlife feces, over 7,000 species of coprophagous dung beetles interact with a staggering diversity of wildlife parasites with fecal-oral transmission in ways that both increase and decrease transmission. Here, we review the mechanisms by which dung beetles influence micro- and macroparasite transmission and outline a future research framework that integrates theory and empirical insights to advance our understanding of how these relationships may interact with ongoing environmental change drivers to further influence wildlife populations and community structure. Any organism that significantly influences parasite transmission will impact multiple levels of biological organization. Therefore, improving our understanding of the role of dung beetle interactions within disease ecology will be key to future efforts to understand the overall dynamics of infection in wildlife and how parasites contribute to the maintenance of ecosystem structure and function and evolutionary processes in wild animals.

Upcycling of manure with insects: current and future prospects

“…Although thousands of arthropods feed on animal manures, these relationships have been investigated mainly in natural habitats (Miller, 1954;Mohr, 1943;Nichols et al, 2017) with few species studied for manure management. Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) are widely studied for their impacts on manure recycling as related to pasture health (Bertone et al, 2006;Nichols et al, 2008), whereas most fly (Diptera) species associated with manure are typically regarded as pests, and research efforts are typically focused on their control (Axtell, 1986;Barth, 1986;Hall and Foehse, 1980;Sheppard, 1983).…”

A Systematic Review of Zoonotic Enteric Parasites Carried by Flies, Cockroaches, and Dung Beetles

“…Dung beetles are found worldwide, including in places such as farms, peri-urban regions, and urban areas [14]. More than 7000 species of dung beetles handle, bury, or move wildlife feces every day [15]. Dung beetles may transmit disease mechanically on their exoskeletons or within their gastrointestinal systems [1,15].…”

First detection of Gongylonema species in Geotrupes mutator in Europe

“…This is particularly true for different platyhelminthes (flatworms) and nematode (roundworms) belonging to the genera Gongylonema , Spirocerca , Ascarops , Acanthocephalus , Macracanthorynchus , or Physocephalus ( Poinar, 1975 ). These parasites use dung beetles as intermediate, incidental, or paratenic hosts ( Mowlavi et al, 2009 ; Mukaratirwa et al, 2010 ; Nichols and Gómez, 2014 ) affecting numerous species of birds, other domestic or wild mammals, as well as humans ( Kinsella et al, 2016 ; Mukaratirwa et al, 2010 ; Nichols and Gómez, 2014 ).…”

“…They contribute to the nitrification and aeration of the soil, seed dispersal, and the control of fly and cattle parasites (Nichols et al, 2008). However, as dung beetle species are in close contact with animal and human faeces, they may also act as hosts for a wide variety of pathogenic bacteria and/or viruses, as well as eukaryotic parasites favouring their dispersion and transmission (Nichols et al, 2017). This is particularly true for different platyhelminthes (flatworms) and nematode (roundworms) belonging to the genera Gongylonema, Spirocerca, Ascarops, Acanthocephalus, Macracanthorynchus, or Physo cephalus (Poinar, 1975).…”

“…Gongylonema species follow a terrestrial indirect life cycle involving approximately 50 species of insects as intermediate hosts, such as dung beetles and cockroaches (Mowlavi et al, 2009;Mukaratirwa et al, 2010). However, the paucity of available observations prevents estimating the network of relationships between these parasites and dung beetles (Nichols et al, 2017). In the present study, we aim to improve the knowledge about these relationships by describing, for the first time, a Gongylonema species hosted by a European Geotrupinae species, and also comparing the genetic relationships of the specimens found with other nematode taxa by analyzing the mitochondrial cox1 genetic sequences.…”