Variation in dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) assemblages in a tropical forest remnant from a Mexican National Park

Abstract

The Cañón del Sumidero National Park (PNCS) is a priority area for conservation, but there are few studies on its fauna, which evidences the need for further basic studies to produce adequate knowledge on its biodiversity. This study aimed to determine dung beetle assemblages temporal distribution, trophic preference, and daily activity patterns. We conducted samplings using baited pitfall traps in a PNCS tropical sub deciduous forest remnant, during the dry and rainy seasons between 2014 and 2015. We captured a total of 863 individuals of 20 species, 12 genera, and five tribes of Scarabaeinae. Estimators suggest that we obtained high faunistic representation (> 80%), but species richness is low compared to other regional studies. The community was characterized by a high number of rare species and few dominant species. We captured the greatest richness and abundance during rainy months, however, species composition between seasons did not differ significantly. Trophic preference was mainly generalist and we considered only four species as specialists to tapir dung. We observed a clear segregation between activity hours. Nevertheless, we determined only nine species as specialists (six nocturnal and three diurnal) and two others had generalist habits. The low diversity we found could be influenced by the constant pressure of the urban area and non-native species within the park, which alter the dung beetle assemblages. However, performing samplings for longer periods and using a wider range of resources would help us obtain more robust results and better understand species distribution patterns.

Habitat type affects the structure but not the composition of dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) assemblages in a tropical deciduous forest of southeastern Mexico

“…and Sánchez-Hernández et al. (2021; 20 spp. ), and most of the species (∼80%) are also commonly found in the tropical deciduous forests of the Central Depression region of Chiapas (Sánchez-Hernández et al.…”

“…At a regional scale, the found richness accounts for about 70% of the species reported by Arellano et al (2013) and Sánchez-Hernández et al (2022a), whereas the species richness obtained was similar to that reported by Rodríguez-López et al (2019;22 spp. ) and Sánchez-Hernández et al (2021;20 spp. ), and most of the species (∼80%) are also commonly found in the tropical deciduous forests of the Central Depression region of Chiapas (Sánchez-Hernández et al 2020).…”

“…It has been collected in a wide variety of habitats and is attracted to both carrion and different types of dung from herbivorous, carnivorous, and omnivorous mammals (Sánchez-Hernández et al. 2018, 2021; Rodríguez-López et al. 2021a) but similarly makes use of other resources that are unusual for most Scarabaeinae species, including injured millipedes and their carcasses (Sánchez-Hernández et al.…”

“…Most of the indicator species in the conserved habitat are large or medium body-sized Scarabaeinae. Copris laeviceps Harold is a medium-sized paracoprid species that is considered a specialist of conserved forests; although it can occupy disturbed spaces, its attraction seems to be related to areas with forest cover similar to well-conserved forest areas (Montes de Oca 2001; Capello and Halffter 2019;Sánchez-Hernández et al 2021). The other three indicator species (Coprophanaeus corythus Harold, Deltochilum scabriusculum, and Phanaeus chiapanecus) have been reported in diverse habitat types and appear to have generalist habits, but their presence in open or highly disturbed areas is rare.…”

Atracción de Omorgus (Omorgus) suberosus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Trogidae) a excretas de mamíferos carnívoros

“…En los Estados Unidos se le registró consumiendo insectos muertos y hongos (Young 2006); en Argentina se le encontró en trampas cebadas con excremento humano y carroña (Gómez 2005) y en Brasil, se ha recolectado en estiércol de aves de corral (Gianizella y Prado 1999;Lopes et al 2007), así como en trampas cebadas con carroña, estiércol de ganado bovino, de cerdo doméstico y heces humanas (Correa et al 2013). Sin embargo, estudios realizados en Chiapas en los que se han utilizado atrayentes similares a los mencionados para el muestreo de escarabajos, no reportan la captura de esta u otra especie de Trogidae (e.g., Arellano et al 2013;Sánchez-Hernández et al 2018, 2019, 2022, incluido el trabajo de Sánchez-Hernández et al (2021), quienes utilizan el estiércol de Panthera onca como atrayente.…”