Exotic Manure is Sure to Lure the Dung Connoisseur

Although the preference of dung beetles for specific types and conditions of
dung has been given substantial attention, little has been done to
investigate their preference for dung from exotic mammals found on game
farms or rewilding projects.

In "A Comparison of Dung Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Attraction to
Native and Exotic Mammal Dung," an article appearing in the latest edition
of Environmental Entomology, Sean D. Whipple, a postdoctoral research
associate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and W. Wyatt Hoback, a
biology professor at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, used pitfall
traps baited with various native and exotic herbivore, carnivore, and
omnivore dung to evaluate dung beetle preference in the Great Plains of
North America.

After spending two years capturing more than 9,000 dung beetles from 15
different species, they found that omnivore dung was the most attractive,
with chimpanzee and human dung having the highest mean capture. This can
largely be attributed to omnivore dung being more odiferous in comparison to
that of herbivore dung.

Surprisingly, native Nebraskan dung beetles which coevolved with bison
showed little attraction to bison dung compared with waterbuck, zebra,
donkey, and moose dung.

"Our results suggest that even closely related species of generalist-feeding
dung beetles differ in their response to novel dung types," said Dr.
Whipple. "In addition, preference for a specific manure does not appear to
be correlated with dung quality, mammalian diet, or origin of mammal."

"This novel research indicates that native dung beetle species will respond
to dung from exotic animals, and that there is an apparent mismatch of
species to resources," said Dr. Hoback. "This mismatch will be addressed in
continuing research and may shed light on ecological and evolutionary
patterns among detritivores which encounter new resources. As such, there
are implications for both conservation and exotic species biology."

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