Assemblages of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) living in the dung of wild animals in Russian Far East. Communication 3. Dung beetles inhabit in the dung of tiger (Panthera tigris)
Shabalin S.A. 1
Year: 2026, Number: 560, Pages: 1-16
In the south of the Russian Far East an assembly of dung beetles inhabiting tiger (Panthera tigris) dung has been studied. Data on the species composition, population dynamics, and number and biomass of the dung beetles are presented. A comparison of dung beetle assemblages inhabiting tiger, wild boar, and sika deer dung under identical spatiotemporal conditions, formed from a common species pool, reveals similar species compositions in these associations. However, their structure and the dynamic processes occurring within them differ significantly. This is reflected in a richer species composition and the number of species of individual functional groups in sika deer dung, differences in dominant species, seasonal distribution patterns of abundance and biomass (including peak values of these indicators for individual dung beetle functional groups), and aggregated overlapping temporal aspects of the ecological niches of coprophilous beetles. These differences are probably related to the size and structure of excrement of vertebrate animals, the presence of specific attractive substances in the droppings of carnivorous and omnivorous mammals.
DOI: 10.25221/fee.560.1
Keywords: dung beetles, assembly, seasonal dynamic, niches interception, biodiversity, Primorskii krai, Russian Far East,
References
Berlov, E.Ya. 1989. 6. Subfamily Aphodiinae. P. 387–402. In: Lehr, P.A. (Ed.). Key to the insects of Soviet Far East. Vol. III. Coleoptera. Pt. 1. Nauka, Leningrad. [In Russian]
Chame, M. 2003. Terrestrial Mammal Feces: A Morphometric Summary and Description. Memórias do Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, 98(Suppl 1): 71–94. DOI: 10.1590/S0074-02762003000900014.
Colwell, R.K., Futuyma, D.J., 1971. On the measurement of niche breadth and overlap. Ecology, 52(4): 567–576.
Dellacasa, M., Dellacasa, G., Král, D. & Bezděk, A. 2016. Tribe Aphodiini Leach, 1815. P. 98–155. In: Löbl, I., Löbl, D. (Ed.). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Vol. 3. Scarabaeoidea – Scirtoidea – Dascilloidea – Buprestoidea – Byrrhoidea. Revised and Updated Edition. Brill, Leiden, Boston.
Dormont, L., Rapior, S., McKey, D.B., Lumaret, J.P. 2007. Influence of dung volatiles on the process of resource selection by coprophagous beetles. Chemoecology, 17: 23–30. DOI: 10.1007/s00049-006-0355-7
Dormont, L., Jay-Robert, P., Bessiere, J.M., Rapior, S., Lumaret, J.P. 2010. Innate olfactory preferences in dung beetles. Journal of Experimental Biology, 213: 3177–3186. DOI: 10.1242/jeb.040964
Frank, K., Brückner, A., Hilpert, A., Heethoff, M., Blüthgen, N. 2017. Nutrient quality of vertebrate dung as a diet for dung beetles. Scientific Reports, 7: 12141. DOI: 10.1038/ s41598-017-12265-y
Hanski I., Cambefort Y. (Ed.). 1991. Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey. 481 pp.
Hanski, I. 1978. Some comments on the measurement of niche metrics. Ecology, 59(1): 168–174.
Kabakov, O.N., 2006. The Lamellicorn Beetles of the Subfamily Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of the Fauna of Russia and Adjacent Countries). KMK, Moscow. 374 p. [In Russian]
Kanda, N., Yokota, T., Shibata, E., Sato, H. 2005. Diversity of dung-beetle community in declining Japanese subalpine forest caused by an increasing sika deer population. Ecological Research, 20: 135–141. DOI: 10.1007/s11284-004-0033-6
Nikolaev, G.V., Kral, D., & Bezděk, A. 2016. Family Geotrupidae Latreille, 1802. P. 33–52. In: Löbl, I., Löbl, D. (Ed.). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Vol. 3. Scarabaeoidea – Scirtoidea – Dascilloidea – Buprestoidea – Byrrhoidea. Revised and Updated Edition. Brill, Leiden, Boston.
Scholtz, C.H., Davis, A.L.V. & Kryger, U. 2009. Evolutionary biology and conservation of dung beetles. Pensoft Publishers, Sofia. 567 pp.
Shabalin, S.A. 2018. First record of Sinodiapterna songrini (Stebnicka et Galante, 1992) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Russia. Far Eastern Entomologist, 363: 8–10. DOI: 10.25221/fee.363.2
Shabalin, S.A. 2020. Assembly of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) – inhabitants of sheep dung in the south of Sikhote-Alin. A.I. Kurentsov's Annual Memorial Meetings, 31: 185–198. DOI: 10.25221/kurentzov.31.16 [In Russian]
Shabalin, S.A. 2021. Assembly of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) inhabiting sheep droppings in the northern spurs of the Manchurian-Korean Mountains (Russian Far East). Contemporary Problems of Ecology, 14(5): 500–514. DOI: 10.1134/ S1995425521050140
Shabalin, S.A. 2022a. Microstatial distribution of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) in horse excrement in the southern Sikhote-Alin, Russia. Contemporary Problems of Ecology, 15(5): 475–483. DOI: 10.1134/S1995425522050110
Shabalin, S.A. 2022b. Taxonomic diversity of the coprophilic scarab beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaoidea) in the southern part of Amur province of Palaearctic. A.I. Kurentsov's Annual Memorial Meetings, 33: 43–54. DOI: 10.25221/kurentzov.33.4 [In Russian]
Shabalin, S.A. 2023. Estimation of biomass of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) from the Russian Far East. Far Eastern Entomologist, 475: 17–30. DOI: 10.25221/fee.475.3
Shabalin, S.A. 2024. Assembly of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) inhabiting cow dung in the northern spurs of the Manchurian-Korean Mountains (Russian Far East). Con¬-temporary Problems of Ecology, 17(2): 227–240. DOI: 10.1134/S1995425524020100
Shabalin, S.A. 2025a. Assemblages of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) living in the dung of wild animals in the Russian Far East. Communication 1. Inhabitants of the dung of the sika deer (Cervus nippon). Far Eastern Entomologist, 532: 1–16. DOI: 10.25221/fee.532.1
Shabalin, S.A. 2025b. Trophic connections of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) in the Russian Far East. A.I. Kurentsov's Annual Memorial Meetings, 36: 55–67. DOI: 10.25221/kurentzov.36.5 [In Russian]
Shabalin, S.A. 2026. Assemblages of dung beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeoidea) living in the dung of wild animals in the Russian Far East. Communication 2. Inhabitants of the dung of the wild boar (Sus scrofa). Far Eastern Entomologist, 532: 1–16. DOI: 10.25221/ fee.532.1
Shabalin, S.A., Akhmetova, L.A., & Frolov, A.V. 2024. A new to Russia species of the genus Aphodius (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Far Eastern Entomologist, 509: 7–10. DOI: 10.25221/fee.509.2
Shabalin, S.A. & Berlov, E.Ya. 2008. A new to Russia species of the genus Aphodius (Cole-optera, Scarabaeidae). Zoologicheskii Zhurnal, 87(1): 122–123. [In Russian]
Whipple, S.D., Hoback, W.W. 2012. A Comparison of Dung Beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabae-idae) Attraction to Native and Exotic Mammal Dung. Environmental Entomology, 41(2): 238–244. DOI: 10.1603/EN11285
Whittaker, R.H. 1975. Communities and Ecosystems. New York: MacMillan Publishing Co. 385 p.
Yu, S.X., Orlόci, L. 1990. On the niche overlap and its measurements. Coenoses, 5(3): 159–165.
Ziani, S., Bezděk, A. 2016. Tribe Onthophagini Burmeister, 1846. P. 180–204. In: Löbl, I., Löbl, D. (Ed.). Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera. Vol. 3. Scarabaeoidea – Scirtoidea – Dascilloidea – Buprestoidea – Byrrhoidea. Revised and Updated Edition. Brill, Leiden, Boston.