To understand the dynamics of spatially structured populations, we need to know the level of movements at different spatial scales. This paper reports on Aphodius dung beetle movements at two scales: movements between dung pats within pastures, and movements between pastures. First, I test an assumption common to many recent models of spatially structured populations – that the probability of a...

1. Soil infiltration capacity determines the partitioning of precipitation into and overland flow is therefore an important soil hydrological characteristic. Water through facilitated by macropores created roots macrofauna. In clay-rich soils, such as those tropical forests Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, most occurs via these preferential pathways. 2. We evaluated effects dung beetle tunnelling on ma...

Research on post-dispersal seed fates has expanded rapidly in the past 20 years. The finding that rodents worldwide scatterhoard many types of seeds and that such scatterhoarding is a second stage of dispersal for some plants has led to the realization that one cannot assume that seed removal is equivalent to seed predation (Forget et al., 1998; Jansen, 2003). Several studies indicate that seco...

The mite species Pseudopygmephorellus mazandaranicus Katlav and Hajiqanbar sp. nov. (Acari: Prostigmata: Pygmephoridae) is described and illustrated from northern Iran. This new species was discovered phoretic on three different scarabaeid dung beetles: Onthophagus sp., Aphodius depressus (Kugelann, 1792), Aphodius varians Duftschmid, 1805. This finding presents the first record of the genus Ps...

Macrocheles seraphim sp. nov. is described from French and Moroccan populations. This species was found phoretic on three species of dung beetles: Scarabaeus laticollis, Geotrupes mutator and G. spiniger. It was identified on the basis of morphological characters as belonging to the M. glaber group, but also has similarities with M. muscaedomesticae. Its systematic position as investigated by g...

We conducted a quantitative analysis of geographic color variation in two species of dung beetles: Geotrupes auratus and G. laevistriatus. The reflectance of the dorsal surfaces was measured from 300 to 700 nm using a spectrophotometer. The reflectance curves for both beetles were bimodal; there were two distinct peaks, namely, the a peak, between 400 and 700 nm, and the beta peak at around 300...

Evolutionary developmental biology examines how changes in developmental programmes give rise to developmental and, ultimately, morphological novelty. To this end, comparisons of related but distinct organisms have to be performed. The diplogastrid nematode Pristionchus pacificus has been developed as a satellite system for a detailed comparison of various developmental processes to the model o...

The dung beetle subfamily Scarabaeinae is a cosmopolitan group of insects that feed primarily on dung. We describe the first case of an obligate predatory dung beetle and contrast its behaviour and morphology with those of its coprophagous sympatric congeners. Deltochilum valgum Burmeister killed and consumed millipedes in lowland rainforest in Peru. Ancestral ball-rolling behaviour shared by o...