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1 May 2005 Seasonal Activity and Species Composition of Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae and Geotrupidae) Inhabiting Cattle Pastures in North Carolina
Matt Bertone, Jim Green, Steve Washburn, Matt Poore, Clyde Sorenson, D. Wes Watson
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Abstract

Species composition and seasonal distribution of dung beetles were studied on dairy and beef cattle pastures in North Carolina. Study sites included a dairy located in the piedmont region (North Carolina Department of Agriculture Piedmont Research Station, Salisbury, NC) and a combined dairy/beef facility in the coastal plain (North Carolina Department of Agriculture Center for Environmental Farming Systems, Goldsboro, NC). Dung beetles were trapped in cattle pastures from March 2002 through September 2003 by using dung-baited pitfall traps. Trapping yielded 4,111 beetles representing 14 species from the piedmont dairy, including Aphodius prodromus Brahm, a new record for North Carolina. Totals of 57,026 beetles representing 28 species and 28,857 beetles representing 26 species were trapped from the dairy unit and beef unit in the coastal plain site, respectively. Onthophagus gazella (F.), a second new record for North Carolina, was collected from the coastal plain. Beetles common to all collection sites include Aphodius erraticus (L.), Aphodius fimetarius (L.), Aphodius granarius (L.), Aphodius pseudolividus Balthasar, Onthophagus taurus Schreber, Onthophagus hecate hecate Panzer, and Onthophagus pennsylvanicus Harold. The introduced beetle O. taurus dominated the dung beetle population, accounting for >50% of the total beetles caught at either site. Beetle activity was greatest from March until November, with activity declining during the winter. Nine exotic species in the genera Onthophagus and Aphodius represented nearly 95% of the beetles trapped.

Matt Bertone, Jim Green, Steve Washburn, Matt Poore, Clyde Sorenson, and D. Wes Watson "Seasonal Activity and Species Composition of Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae and Geotrupidae) Inhabiting Cattle Pastures in North Carolina," Annals of the Entomological Society of America 98(3), 309-321, (1 May 2005). https://doi.org/10.1603/0013-8746(2005)098[0309:SAASCO]2.0.CO;2
Received: 13 July 2004; Accepted: 1 February 2005; Published: 1 May 2005
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KEYWORDS
Aphodius
cattle
coastal-plain
Onthophagus
Piedmont
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