Abstract

Escarabajos coprófagos (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) asociados a excrementos de mamíferos en un fragmento de bosque seco tropical en el Departamento del Atlántico, Colombia. Ecol. austral [online]. 2012, vol.22, n.3, pp.203-210. ISSN 1667-782X.

Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) associated to mammalians feces in a tropical dry forest fragment in Department of Atlántico, Colombia: The composition and structure of the dung beetles associated with the dung of the Alouatta seniculus, Sus domestica and Bos Taurus in a fragment of a dry tropical forest in the Reserva Campesina Tierra Arena (RCTA), Atlántico, was evaluated. Four samples since June to October of 2008 was made. It was chosen ten points separated in 50 m each other. On every point was placed three pitfalls traps in a triangle position, every trap was baited with a different dung of the mammal named and checked within 24 hours. We captured 864 individuals grouped in nine genera and 21 species. Uroxys sp. was the most abundant species with 33.21% of the total of individuals captured. The bait with most diverse (18) and abundance (499) was the monkey’s dung. The ANOSIM test showed differences in structure the study area (R=0.422; p=0.001). The Manly´s index showed that most of the Scarabaeinae species (13) had preference for monkey’s dung, these results showed that dung beetles had preference for dung of native mammals, such as the howler monkey (A. seniculus), whose habitat reduction and the human activities may cause also the fauna associated to this animal like the dung beetles.

Keywords : Preferences; Alouatta seniculus; Uroxys sp; ANOSIM.

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