(Photo by Mary Liz Jameson, Ph.D.)Ĭarrion, in fact, may be a far more desirable item on the dung beetle menu than previously believed. They found that more beetles congregated at the fore rather than the aft end of the carrion, which suggests they were drawn to the carcass itself, not dung in the gastrointestinal tract at its rear, as has been hypothesized in the past. Researchers Emmy Engasser (left) and Rachel Stone (right) spent a year baiting dung beetles in traps with dead rats on the Kansas prairie to evaluate whether dung exposed by decomposition or the carrion itself attracted the beetles. “The findings of this study indicate that there is more to the dung beetle–carrion interaction than we give them credit for outside the tropics,” says Stone. In general, outside of tropical forest species, scientists have pretty much dismissed the attraction carrion has for the beetles.
By way of comparison, carrion does not seem to be used as a significant food resource by dung beetle species in tropical grasslands, which teem with large herbivores and their droppings. Several dung beetle species living in tropical rain forests, where the large herbivores (and therefore their dung) are scant, depend on carrion and are, in fact, necrophagous. It is known that carrion also seems to serve as a substitute for dung when and where poop is hard to find. More work needs to be done to provide direct evidence of feeding,” Stone says.īe that as it may, the team’s research may cause scientists to rethink the role of carrion in dung beetle diet. “The arrival of dung beetles to baited traps is merely an indication of initial attraction and cannot be interpreted as evidence of actual feeding. student at Case Western Reserve University, and Engasser is now a collection specialist of the O’Brien Collection at Arizona State University. Stone conducted the researcher with fellow forensic ecology graduate student Emmy Engasser during their time at Wichita State University, under direction of Mary Liz Jameson, Ph.D., Stone is now a Ph.D. “This research provides evidence that dung beetles have a direct attraction to carrion rather than an indirect attraction to the dung of a decomposing animal, but it is important to remember that this work doesn’t provide evidence of actual carrion feeding,” says Rachel Stone, lead author of the paper. It appears they no longer have to wonder. Therefore, until now, scientists questioned whether dung exposed by decomposition or the carrion itself attracted the beetles. (Photo by Mary Liz Jameson, Ph.D.)īecause carrion is a secondary food for dung beetles, they are not considered necrophagous, which means primarily feeding on carrion. Researchers Rachel Stone (left) and Emmy Engasser (right) spent a year baiting dung beetles in traps with dead rats on the Kansas prairie to evaluate whether dung exposed by decomposition or the carrion itself attracted the beetles. The dwellers departed from the norm and showed no preference for head or tail, distributing themselves evenly over the carcass, suggesting that like tunneling and rolling, attraction to the head of a carcass is a later behavioral development in dung beetle evolution. So-called “roller” dung beetles make balls of poop and roll them off, “tunnelers” bury it, and “dwellers” crawl into it, displaying what scientists believe is the original dung beetle behavior.
The results of the research indicated that, at least in this case, more beetles congregated at the fore rather than the aft end of the carrion, which suggests they were drawn to the carcass itself, not dung in the gastrointestinal tract at its rear, as has been hypothesized in the past.ĭung beetles eat carrion along with their dietary mainstay, which is, not surprisingly, poop. The title refers to whether the beetles are attracted to the head (or cranial) end of the rat or its tail (or caudal) end. Researchers who spent a year baiting dung beetles in traps with dead rats on the Kansas prairie managed to avoid the risk but still come up with a catchy title when they reported their findings this month in the journal Environmental Entomology: “ Heads or Tails? Dung Beetle Attraction to Carrion.” When the research targets dung beetles, on the other hand, there’s rare opportunity to wax playful with words but, as well, the real risk of scatology.
By and large, the titles of scientific research papers can be pretty stodgy.
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