Aphodius fossor

Aphodius (Teuchestes) fossor is a species of dung beetle native to the Palaearctic, but is also widespread in North America following accidental introduction and naturalisation during European settlement.[1] Both adults and larvae are coprophagous, differentiating resource use by respectively feeding on the liquid and fibrous fractions of herbivore dung. It can be readily collected from the dung of livestock, and other large mammals[2] This species is known to support a number of key ecosystem services in cattle pastures.[3]

Aphodius fossor
Artist's illustration of Aphodius (Teuchestes) fossor
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Class:
Insecta
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Scarabaeidae
Genus:
Aphodius
Species:
A. fossor
Binomial name
Aphodius fossor
(Linnaeus, 1758)

Appearance

Adult

Aphodius fossor is highly convex beetle measuring between 8–12 millimetres (0.31–0.47 in) in length, and 2–3 millimetres (0.079–0.118 in) in breadth.[4][5] The scutellum is long, and reaches more than 20% sutural length. The elytral striae are relatively narrow.[4] The pronotum is densely punctured towards side and front angles. Its typical colour is a uniform glossy black, although it can also rarely occurs in a dark red form where it may superficially resemble Aphodius rufipes.[5] Males are differentiated from females by a small but prominent horn on the head.[4]

Larvae

Larvae are typical C-shaped scarabaeid larvae, and undergo three larval instars before pupation.

Ecology

Like other species within the genus Aphodius, this dung beetle is classified as an 'dwelling' or 'endocoprid' species,[5] where in place of rolling dung balls—beetles feed and reproduces within the confines of mammalian dung.[6] Adult beetles preferentially colonise older cattle dung,[5] moving between several dung pats as adults.[7] Eggs are laid singly beneath the dung crust[8] and in the underlying soil.[9] Adult beetles typically occur at low densities in mated pairs,[10] and mate-finding and anti-aggregation are thought to be mediated by pheromones.[11] Despite being found in open environments like pastures, Aphodius fossor is sensitive to desiccation and larvae experience significant mortality when highly exposed environments.[8]

Sensitivity to veterinary anthelmintics

A number of studies have shown that coprophagous insects suffer a suite of lethal and sublethal effects in response to veterinary anthelmintic residues. Adult beetles show negligible sensitivity to the anthelmintic ivermectin, but in contrast larvae are highly sensitive.[9]

Role as a beneficial insect

The feeding of larvae and adults enhances the rate at which dung disappears from the pasture surface.[9] This action allows for the growth of new forage, while also acting to release nutrients back into the soil,[12] and helps relieve surface soil compaction.[13] As adults and larvae often feed at the soil-dung interface, soil particles may be inadvertently introduced into the dung and the contributions of Aphodius fossor to dung removal may be underestimated.[14]

References
  1. Floate, K.D.; Gill, B.G. (1998). "Seasonal activity of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) associated with cattle dung in southern Alberta and their geographic distribution in Canada". The Canadian Entomologist. 130 (2): 131–151. doi:10.4039/ent130131-2.
  2. Hutton, Stephen A.; Giller, Paul S. (2003-12-01). "The effects of the intensification of agriculture on northern temperate dung beetle communities". Journal of Applied Ecology. 40 (6): 994–1007. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2003.00863.x. ISSN 1365-2664.
  3. Beynon, Sarah A.; Wainwright, Warwick A.; Christie, Michael (2015-09-01). "The application of an ecosystem services framework to estimate the economic value of dung beetles to the U.K. cattle industry". Ecological Entomology. 40: 124–135. doi:10.1111/een.12240. hdl:2160/42681. ISSN 1365-2311.
  4. "The Watford Coleoptera Group: Aphodius fossor". September 6, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  5. Jessop, L (1986). Dung beetles and chafers. Handbooks for the identification of British insects (PDF). London, UK: Royal Entomological Society. pp. 1–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2017. Retrieved September 13, 2016.
  6. Hanski, Ilkka; Cambefort, Yves (2014-07-14). Dung Beetle Ecology. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400862092.
  7. Roslin, Tomas (2000-11-01). "Dung beetle movements at two spatial scales". Oikos. 91 (2): 323–335. doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2000.910213.x. ISSN 1600-0706. S2CID 3141636.
  8. Vessby, Karolina (2001-08-01). "Habitat and weather affect reproduction and size of the dung beetle Aphodius fossor". Ecological Entomology. 26 (4): 430–435. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2311.2001.00331.x. ISSN 1365-2311.
  9. Beynon, Sarah A.; Mann, Darren J.; Slade, Eleanor M.; Lewis, Owen T. (2012-12-01). "Species-rich dung beetle communities buffer ecosystem services in perturbed agro-ecosystems". Journal of Applied Ecology. 49 (6): 1365–1372. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2664.2012.02210.x. ISSN 1365-2664.
  10. Palestrini, C.; Barbero, E.; Ronaldo, A. (1998-05-01). "Intra- and interspecific aggregation among dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) in an Alpine pasture". Journal of Zoology. 245 (1): 101–109. doi:10.1017/s0952836998005123. ISSN 1469-7998.
  11. Manning, Paul; Ford, Jack P. (2016-08-01). "Evidence that sex-specific signals may support mate finding and limit aggregation in the dung beetle Aphodius fossor". Ecological Entomology. 41 (4): 500–504. doi:10.1111/een.12319. ISSN 1365-2311.
  12. Slade, Eleanor M.; Roslin, Tomas (2016-04-01). "Dung beetle species interactions and multifunctionality are affected by an experimentally warmed climate". Oikos. 125 (11): 1607–1616. doi:10.1111/oik.03207. ISSN 1600-0706.
  13. Manning, Paul; Slade, Eleanor M.; Beynon, Sarah A.; Lewis, Owen T. (2016-02-15). "Functionally rich dung beetle assemblages are required to provide multiple ecosystem services". Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment. 218: 87–94. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2015.11.007.
  14. Owen, W. K.; Lloyd, J. E.; Legg, D. E.; Kumar, R. (2006-12-01). "Endocoprid Activity of Aphodius fossor (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Related to Bovine Dung Decomposition in a Mixed Grass Prairie". Journal of Economic Entomology. 99 (6): 2210–2215. doi:10.1093/jee/99.6.2210. ISSN 0022-0493. PMID 17195695.
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