Dung Beetle Trap Restaurant – Issue #113

Hello Explorer,
Last week I had the privilege to set out some Dung Beetle traps with a teenager who is interested in becoming an Entomologist. We headed out to a farm which is surrounded by wildlife camps with various game, as this would increase the number of dung beetles, as well as number of species we are able to collect.
Dung beetles are very fascinating insects that render ecological services that make life better for everyone. They are specialized to eat and break down dung, and without them, we would've been in a very poopy situation! In newsletter Issue #24 – Dung beetles and their ways we discussed the different types of dung beetles.
Dung beetle trapping is much simpler and easier than it is thought to be. It consists of a simple baited pitfall trap. A pitfall trap is just a bucket that is placed inside a hole, with the rim of the bucket level with the soil level. A piece of wire is then bent into a thin U-shape and placed over the bucket; this is to hold the “bait” in place. The bait, in case of dung beetle trapping, will be some kind of dung placed inside a stocking to prevent it from falling into the bucket trap (see photo below).

We used three different dung types to see what dung attracts which dung beetles and to see if there are any differences in species as well as number of dung beetles attracted to the each of the dung types. We used horse, cow, and pig dung, which have hindgut fermenter, ruminants and monogastric digestive systems dung respectively. Along with the three dung types we also used a beatless trap as a control to see if it is the bucket or wire itself that are attracting any of the beetles. Using the dung from various animals allows us to see what type of dung each dung beetle prefers. This preference is based on the different nutrients that are available in the various dung types.
Placing the dung inside the stockings and onto the trap always serves for some entertaining moments and lots of laughter.
We went to empty the traps after 24 and 48 hours. This gave us the opportunity to see how the drying out of the dung influences its attractiveness to the dung beetles, as well as the abundance and which species were attracted.
Something we saw the moment we started to empty the traps after 24 hours was that the cow and pig dung attracted lots of dung beetles, whereas the horse dung only attracted 1 or 2 very small dung beetles. After 48 hours we saw the same result of cow and pig attracting a lot more beetles than the horse dung.
After witnessing this I asked the farm owner whether he knows if anyone next to them has horses or zebras on their farms, and he informed me that no one near them has horses, zebras, or donkeys. This potentially explains the lack of dung beetles in the horse dung traps.
Most of the dung beetles we collected were less than 8mm in length, and this is likely due to the trapping happening in wintertime. We will be doing another round either September or December this year to see how the number and species composition changes from winter to spring or summer.
At this stage I can unfortunately not give more detailed information about which dung beetle species we collected or how many exactly, as a lot of the beetles still must be sorted, pinned, and identified.
Next week I will explain more about why dung beetle trapping in this method works so well!

If you would like to send me a message with your answers, feel free to do so on Instagram or Twitter @abugmanslife or via email to [email protected].

Meet Bugman!

Hi there, I'm Ludwig. As a passionate entomologist, I'm fascinated by the incredible world of insects! Did you know a termite queen can live for up to 50 years? Through this newsletter, I hope to share my experiences and ignite your curiosity about the vital role these tiny creatures play in our ecosystems. Let's Explore, Discover, and Share the wonders of the insect world together!  Next time you're outside, see if you can spot some fascinating ants or praying mantids – you might be surprised by what you discover!