Dung Beetle Benefits

Twice as much carbon is stored in Earth’s soil
as exists in the plants that grow from it, and the
animals that depend on them. …a cast of
thousands, maybe millions, of species of
organisms they purify water,
organisms…
water detoxify harmful
substances, and recycle waste products…
they restore carbon dioxide to the air and make
the atmosphere’s nitrogen available to plants.
Virginia Gewin, Discovery in the Dirt
NATURE, Vol 439/26 Jan 2006, p 384-386
Benefits from Multitudes of Soil
Bacteria and Fungi
Bacteria:
S
Sequester
t nitrogen
it
– keep
k
it in
i th
the soil.
il
Make mucous – help glue organic matter together.
Provide base of food chain in soil.
soil
Fungi:
p
Provide water,, nutrients and minerals to host plants.
Have enzymes that digest lignin.
Make glomalin (super glue) that binds soil aggregates
together.
Provide major component of soil food chain.
Where do soil bacteria and fungi get “energy” food?
POOP CYCLE
One organism’s
organism s poop is another organism’s
organism s pleasure
Composition of Cow Dung
• Mostly water
• Numerous micro-organisms (organic
matter) and their metabolic products
• Undigested plant material (carbohydrates)
• 2.5-4.0%
2 5 4 0% Nitrogen
Nitrogen, 0
0.7%
7% Phosphorous
Phosphorous,
0.8% Potassium, 0.4% Sodium, 2.4%
Calcium (fertilizer)
•
Marsh, R. & R.C. Campling,
p g 1970, Fouling
g of p
pastures by
y dung.
g
Herb. Abstr. 40, 123-130
Dung Beetle Shapes
Dung Beetle Benefits
• Bury manure, preventing smothering or fouling of forage
and preventing downstream pollution
•Recycle manure (natural fertilizer and nutrients)
• Increase soil organic matter, decreasing erosion &
flooding and reducing effects of drought
•Improve soil health, increasing biodiversity & increasing
ecological resilience
•Aerate soil, improving soil life habitat (e.g. for earthworms)
• Remove breeding media of hornflies, faceflies, and
many livestock internal parasites
Annual Potential Benefits by Rapid Burial of Livestock Dung
•
•
•
•
•
•
From increased grazing – beef cattle
From nitrogen recycling – beef cattle
From reduced parasitism – beef cattle
- dairy cattle
other livestock
F
From
reduced
d
d pestt fli
flies
• Total potential benefits
• (Fincher 1981 published calculations)
$603 million
$208 million
$428 million
$164 million
$150 million
$515 million
illi
$2 billion
Our fondness for yeast poop
Your choice of yeast or bacteria poop
2007 Photo by
y John Ingram
g
Butterflies collecting treasures from earth and poop
Phanaeus triangularis
Onthophagus gazella
Onthophagus gazella vs. Onthophagus taurus
Walt’s
Walt
s Cows
Planned Grazing
Dung Beetle Activity
fresh dung
+ 24 hours
h
Dung Beetle Assemblages
• Central Texas Urban Gradient – from downtown Austin
•
•
(>3500 people/mi2) parks to rural (<500 people/mi2), 17 sites
trapped 8 times/site over at least a year, bait with dog and cow
dung
14,767 scarab beetles, 38 species
O. alluvius = 61% of beetles captured
• Baton
B t R
Rouge LA F
Forested
t d Urban
U b Park
P k - 8-10 traps
•
•
once a month for a year, bait with pig dung
699 scarab beetles, 12 species
O hecate
O.
h
t = 60% off beetles
b tl captured
t d
• Sheep to Dog Dung Pineto Park in Rome, Italy
•
•
1986 Sheep grazing (grazing removed in 1989) – bait with
sheep dung
210 scarab beetles, 19 species (6 genera)
•
•
1999 Neighborhood Dogs – bait with dog dung
1498 scarab beetles, 9 species (2 genera)
Dung Beetle Assemblages cont.
• East-Central Texas Open & Wooded Pasture – bait with
•
•
•
•
pig dung over 18 month period (1979-1980)
238 110 scarab beetles
238,110
beetles, 35 species (9 Onthophagus
Onthophagus, 11 Aphodius)
21 species = day fliers, 14 species = crepuscular/nocturnal
fliers
67 3% caught in open pasture habitat
67.3%
O. oklahomensis = 40% of beetles captured
• North Carolina Dairy/Beef Pastures
•
•
•
•
- bait with cow dung
over 18 month period
C
Coastal
t l plain
l i Dairy
D i – 57,026
57 026 scarab
b beetles,
b tl
28 species
i
Coastal plain Beef – 28,857 scarab beetles, 26 species
Piedmont Dairy – 4,111 beetles, 14 species
O. taurus >50% of beetles captured at all sites
The Whole Beetle Neighborhood in Dung
• Families of beetles in dung:
• Carabids (Ground Beetles) – predators on other insects
• Ptiliidae (Feather-Winged Beetles) – feed on fungus
• Agyrtidae –
• Staphylinidae (Rove Beetles) – short elytra, most are
predaceous
• Hydrophilidae (Water Scavenger Beetles) - subfamily
Sphaeridiinae are terrestrial and occur in dung
• Histeridae (Hister Beetles) – quite oval and shiny black,
hang around dung, fungi and carrion
• Scarabaeidae (Scarab Beetles)
Soil Water Availability:
E th
Earthworms
&H
Harvester
t Ants
A t
(Lumbricus sp.)
(Pogonomyrmex barbatus)
(Pogonomyrmex
barbatus)
Dung Beetle Viability/Diatomaceous Earth
• 10 +DE buckets, 5 pair O.gazella / bucket, 0.5% DE
mixed into cow dung
• 8 -DE control buckets, 5 pair O.gazella / bucket, no DE
in cow dung
• Remove adult pairs after 10 days. +DE – 8/100 adults
were dead. -DE – 8/80 adults were dead
• Emergents (E)
• +DE – 178 E (83 male, 95 female)
• Average/bucket (n=10)
(n 10) 17.8 E, 8.3 male, 9.5 female
• -DE – 133 E (71 male, 62 female)
• Average/bucket (n=8) 16.6 E, 10.1 male, 7.8 female
Ball Rollers 1
Ball Rollers 2
Ball Rollers 3
Ball Rollers 4
Big Ten Dung Beetle Species Trapped 1979-80 in East-Central Texas Study, Fincher et. al.
Name
1979
t t l
total
trapped
1980
t t l
total
trapped
Habitat /
N ti Behavior
Nesting
B h i
Flight Activity/Season
d di
d=diurnal
l (d
(day))
c/n=crepuscular/nocturnal
Size
(l
(length)
th)
2,252
1,826
>80% open/ dweller
c/n (peak 6-8pm)
Feb-Nov
3-6mm
Canthon ebenus
(aka Borocanthon)
18,347
4,082
>90% open/ roller
d (peak 10
10-11am)
11am)
Mar-Nov
7-12mm
7
12mm
Canthon imitator
27,553
9,106
’79 >90% open, ’80
>60% open/ roller
d (peak 9-10am)
Mar-Nov
11-12mm
Didactylla knausi
(now Aidophus
parcus)
6
8,683
>70% open/ dweller
c/n (peak 8-9pm)
May-July
3-4mm
Onthophagus
gazella
3,230
14,311
>80% open/ tunneler
c/n (peak 7-8pm)
Mar-Nov
10-13mm
Onthophagus
medorensis
4 906
4,906
3 526
3,526
>80% wooded/
tunneler
d (peak 10-11am)
10 11am)
Feb-Dec
6 8mm
6-8mm
Onthophagus
oklahomensis
57,180
37,719
>80% open/
tunneler
d (peak 10-11am)
Mar-Nov
2-4mm
Onthophagus
pennsylvanicus
17,002
12,251
60% 80% wooded/
60%-80%
tunneler
d (peak 12
12-1pm)
1pm)
Mar-Nov
3-5mm
3
5mm
Onthophagus
tuberculifrons
6,513
1,860
>90% wooded/
tunneler
d (peak 12-1pm)
Feb-Dec
3-5.5mm
Phanaeus
difformis
2,051
559
’79 >79% open, ’80 31%
open/ tunneler
d (peak 10-11am)
Mar-Nov
13-22mm
139,040
93,923
Aphodius lividus
Total trapped
(10 of 35 species)
232,963/238,110
= 97.8%
Big Ten Dung Beetle Species Summary, 1979-80 East
C t lT
Central
Texas 21 month
th St
Study,
d Fi
Fincher
h et.al.
t l
• 2 dwellers, 2 rollers, 6 tunnelers
• Size range (length): 2-4mm to 13-22mm [25mm = 1inch]
• 7 day flyers (peak flight activity range from 9-10am to 12p )
1pm)
• 3 dawn-dusk/night flyers (peak flight activity range 6-8pm
to 8-9pm)
• 3 tunnelers significantly preferred wooded habitat
• Several species adapted to heat/drought by moving from
open habitat to wooded habitat
• Species seasonality – as broad as Feb-Dec
Feb Dec, as narrow
as May-July, but show peaks of high numbers
• Truman Fincher suggested introducing 1-2 day-flyers
that like wooded habitat and 1-2
1 2 night flyers for wooded
and another 1-2 for open habitat.
Human Dung Beetle Heroes
• George Bornemissza – Hungarian refugee to Australia in
1951, CSIRO dung beetle project 1965-93, brought in 50
species reared/released,
species,
reared/released 23 species well established
established. In
2008 he won Australian Geographic Society’s inaugural
Conservationist of the Year award for “one of most
successful introductions of an exotic species in history”
history .
• Truman Fincher – ARS project begun in 1978, by 1987
he had imported/reared 15 exotic species and was
making
ki fifirstt releases
l
when
h th
the project
j t was tterminated,
i t d
and he was told to abandon the colonies…
• John Feehan – Worked with Bornemissza at CSIRO until
project stopped in 1993. He developed his own company
and sells dung beetles! Colony is ~1500 beetles. He’s
sold 3000 colonies or more, and can’t keep up with
demand.
Size Classification of Soil Organisms (Body Width)
Micro (.001mm-0.1mm)
Bacteria
Fungi
N
Nematodes
t d
Protozoa
Meso (0.1mm-2mm)
Mega (2mm-20mm)
Mites
Collembola
Diplura
Enchytraeidae
Symphyla
IIsopods
d
Opiliones
Centipedes
Millipedes
Spiders
Earthworms
Beetles
Snails
George Wagner dung beetle observations 9-2008
12pm - fruity plum filled
coyote dung
ball roller and tunneler
g the coyote
y
dung
g
working
George Wagner observations May 2009
Copris fricator
On g
goat dung
g
Goat dung 5-11-2009
well worked by dung
beetles
George Wagner comments in May 2009
“I haven’t even got my hands dirty yet in dung beetling and
I have to go looking for information on rove beetles.
beetles
Seems in New Zealand a common name for a rove beetle
is ‘The Devils Coach-Horse’. Finally a bug name I can
tattoo on my bicep.
Information gathered thus far tells us the rove beetle likes
p
but is incapable
p
of
to arch its tail similar to a scorpion
stinging. It can deliver a painful bite. I have found larva in
goat dung that has been well worked over by dung beetles,
so a food source is present for rove beetles.
beetles
Now dung beetling has become dangerous, and I’ve been
trying to move away from danger…”
George Wagner observations May 2009
Aphodius species
Onthophagus hecate
and tiny rove beetle.
George Wagner comments May 2009
Speaking of patterns, at present it has become common
practice to mentally mark the location where our stock dog
deposits dung upon arrival at the pasture. Canine dung
was put down around 8am on the edge of a 2-track
2 track trail
(you gotta love a dog who puts down dung where it can’t
be missed), and we returned to this site about three hours
later to find the earth moving.
There were no less than 12 ball rollers gainfully employed
in dung beetle business. At the bottom of the track slope
there were 3 dung balls and 6 rollers going ape. Close
examination led to discovery of a tunneler burying the
rollers’ dung balls (cashing in on a behavioral pattern so to
speak)
In all this excitement and in close proximity I was sure I had
found a dung beetle never before seen by the human eye.
George Wagner observations May 2009
Omorgus suberosus
(hide or skin beetle) –
eats fur, feathers, hair,
skin & sometimes feces
P. Vindex (tunneler)
stealing dog dung from
C. pilularius (ball
rollers)
George Wagner observations June 2009
Silphidae (carrion beetle)
Oiceoptoma novaboracense
[ ith mites]
[with
it ] on goatt carcass
Staphylinidae (rove beetle,
beetle
predatory) species on
goat dung
(d
(dung
neighborhood
i hb h d beetle)
b tl )
George Wagner observations June 2009
Goat carcass with O. suberosus [with mites] & C. pilularius
George Wagner observations June 2009
New small ball roller of deer
or goat dung & P.
P lanceolata
eating leafy spurge
Scarab beetle but not
a dung beetle
Phyllophaga lanceolata
George Wagner observations June 2009
Predatory Hister beetle
(dung neighborhood beetle)
Melanocanthon nigricornis
((new small ball roller))
George Wagner observations June & August 2009
8-25-09 Silphidae burying
beetle Nicrophorus
beetle,
species found under
mouse & mole carcasses
6-24-09 Carabidae (ground
predator
beetle)) p
Calosoma calidium
eating P. lanceolata
George Wagner observations June & September 2009
9-16-09, 46 degrees F
Geotrupes splendidus
in cat dunging area in
front of house
6-26-09 G. splendidus
dying?
y g [[with mites]]
George Wagner observations mid-September 2009
G t
Geotrupes
opacus
with old cow dung
with kid goat pellet
with dry goat pellet
George Wagner, Rancher, Knox County, Nebraska
D
Dung
Naturalist
N t
li t 9-2008
9 2008 through
th
h9
9-2009
2009
• 14 dung
g beetle species
p
((only
y 2 of which were
previously reported in Knox County)
• 6 dwellers, 2 rollers, 6 tunnelers
• 6 kinds of dung – cow, goat, coyote, dog, cat, wild
turkey
• Dung neighborhood beetles - 2 scarab (Omorgus,
(Omorgus
Phyllophaga), 1 hister, several staphylinid rove
beetles, 1 carrion, 1 burying, several carabid
ground
d beetles
b tl