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Table 1. Diversity, abundance, guild structure and succession of dung beetles associated with Indian elephant dung.
Succession study using dung pats Exposure time
Sl No. Species Nesting guild Distribution Size Pitfall traps 1 3 5 7 14 21 Total
1 Gymnopleurus melanarius Harold R C L 9 - - - - - - -
2 Sisyphus longipes Olivier* R C S 3 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
3 Sisyphus neglectus Gory* R C S 18 1 1 0 0 0 0 2
4 Drepanocerus setosus Arrow* D C S 72 31 12 4 2 0 0 49
5 Liatongus indicus Arrow* D WG S 28 2 9 3 5 0 0 19
6 Oniticellus cinctus Fabricius # D C S 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
7 Copris davisoni Waterhouse # T C S 11 0 0 3 6 2 0 11
8 Copris signatus Walker # T C S 5 0 0 0 3 0 0 3
9 Copris repertus Walker T C S 2 1 3 3 4 2 0 13
10 Copris sp 1 # T S 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 3
11 Catharsius sagax Quenstedt T C L 1 - - - - - - -
12 Heliocopris dominus Bates T C L 1 - - - - - - -
13 Onitis siva Gillet # T NH L 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 2
14 Onitis subopacus Arrow # T C L 13 0 1 1 1 1 0 4
15 Onthophagus bronzeus Arrow # T C S 58 0 5 11 0 0 0 16
16 Onthophagus furcillifer Bates # T C S 12 0 4 1 0 0 0 5
17 Onthophagus rectecornutus Lansberge # T C S 6 0 1 1 0 0 0 2
18 Onthophagus cervus Fabricius # T C S 56 0 16 9 5 0 0 30
19 Onthophagus madoqua Arrow # T NH S 9 0 6 4 5 0 0 15
20 Onthophagus falsus Gillet # T F S 1 0 1 2 0 0 0 3
21 Onthophagus ensifer Boucomont T WG S 1 - - - - - - -
Total 309 25 63 42 34 5 0 179
Moisture content 82 79 76.2 75.5 43.3 38.5

R- rollers, D- dwellers, T- tunnelers; C- beetles common to North and South India, WG- reported only from Western Ghats, NH- reported only from Nilgiri Hills, F- first report from South India; (*) Type I beetles, (#) Type II beetles, S - small beetles with a length <20 mm, L- large beetles with a length ≥20 mm.
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