Spatial structure of the diversity of dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in savanna formations of Central Brazil

Cunha, Wanderson Lacerda da; Frizzas, Marina Regina

doi:10.1007/s10531-020-02068-5

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…The abundance of dung beetles collected here was low (203 individuals) for the study period (October 2016 to March 2017) compared with other studies conducted with this group in the rainy season in the Cerrado, in which over 2000 individuals were collected (Cunha & Frizzas, 2020;Ribeiro et al, 2022). The data presented in this study were recorded during an atypical year with a strong El Niño influence (NOAA, 2020), where the annual precipitation (855.2 mm) was much lower than the expected average based on the climatological normal (1345.8 mm) (Silva et al, 2017).…”

Section: Abundance In Omnivorescontrasting

confidence: 61%

“…O. palemo was the second most collected species, mainly in the faeces of omnivorous (29.09%) and herbivorous (14.82%) mammals, and it was most often present at traps baited with maned wolf faeces. This may be related to the fact that O. palemo is coprophagous (Edmonds & Zídek, 2004), and the most abundant dung beetle species collected in the Cerrado (Cunha & Frizzas, 2020) and that the maned wolf and O. palemo have similar geographic distributions, favouring open areas (Edmonds & Zídek, 2004).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Attractiveness of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) to faeces from native mammals in different trophic guilds

2022

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Dung beetles are predominantly coprophagous and use mammalian faeces as their main food resource and for offspring rearing. However, these resources are generally ephemeral and scarce. The objective of this study was to verify the attractiveness to dung beetles of the faeces of nine native mammal species of the Cerrado biome in different trophic guilds. This study was conducted during the rainy season (October 2016 to March 2017) in two sensu stricto areas of the Cerrado in the Brasília National Park (PNB), Federal District, Brazil. Pitfalls containing faeces of nine mammals native to the region were used as bait (from three herbivores, three carnivores and three omnivores) for the collection of dung beetles. We collected 203 individuals and 19 species, and the most abundant species were Uroxys aff. thoracalis, Oxysternon palemo, Coprophanaeus spitzi and Diabroctis mirabilis. The most attractive faecal bait was from the omnivorous Chrysocyon brachyurus (32.67% of the individuals and 13 species). This study reveals variation in the attraction of dung beetles to native mammal dung of the Cerrado, with more abundance in the faeces of omnivores and carnivores and less in the faeces of herbivores. The species composition in the carnivore baits did not differ from that of the omnivore baits. These data indicate that changes in Scarabaeinae assemblages result from changes in mammal species such as those that have occurred in the Cerrado biome with the conversion to cattle production, which in recent years has caused intense fragmentation of habitats, expansion of agricultural and livestock activities and the introduction of exotic species. The mammal C. brachyurus, vulnerable to extinction in Brazil, should be a focus for future research, since its faeces support a great diversity of dung beetles in the Cerrado.

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Section: Abundance In Omnivorescontrasting

confidence: 61%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%