A comparison of dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) communities sampled by two types of traps

摘要

Dung beetle communities sampled by two types of traps, i.e. pitfall bait traps and natural dung pad, were compared in a cultivated area of Kurukshetra, Haryana, India. Pitfall traps were baited with 100-150 g of fresh cattle dung. Sampling was carried out for a six month period. A total of 907 individuals of 25 species of dung beetles were collected from both the traps - 595 individuals comprising 22 species from pitfall traps and 312 individuals comprising 17 species from dung pads. Out of the 25 species, 14 were common to both types of traps; eight were found only in pitfall traps, and three only in dung pads. Both in terms of the number of species and the number of individuals, pitfall trap was more efficient although three species were not collected in pitfall traps. The largest number of individuals was collected in the month of June, followed by August, in both the trap types. The most abundant species were Onthophagus falsus, followed by O. mopsus, O. ramosellus, O. bonasus, Onitis philemon and Onthophagus catta, in that order.