Dung beetles from three primary forest sites in the Brazilian Amazon

Scarabaeinae beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) is a high performance indicator group used in biodiversity assessment of tropical forests. As most species are coprophagous they are commonly known as dung beetles although few species may be necrophagous or saprophagous. Allied to the feeding habitat dung beetles display a complex reproductive behaviour with nests underground, and therefore act in many ecossistem services as nutrient cycling, bioturbation and secondary seed dispersal. Dung beetles display specific forraging methods, as they detect food odors through the antennas and fly towards the food resource. They are therefore captured by baited pitfall and flight interception traps, and studies have shown the complementary between these methods. However, the use of attractants can introduce additional sources of variation in trap performance. In our paper we aimed to assess the effect of bait attractiveness on assemblages metrics when sampled by baited pitfall traps. We identified species less and highly attracted to the baits in use, and that assemblages sampled with baited traps tend to lower diversity and higher dominance.

Methods
In 2019, dung beetles were sampled in three terra firme primary forests within Brazilian Amazon (Serra do Divisor, Acre; BR-319, Amazonas; and Cristalino, Mato Grosso) using pitfall traps baited with human feces and flight interception traps. Dung beetle species are deposited at Coleção Entomológica de Mato Grosso Eurides Furtado (CEMT), at Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso, Cuiabá, Mato Grosso, Brazil. For further information please refer to methods section of the article "Bait attractiveness changes community metrics in dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)" at Ecology and Evolution.