Abstract
Ball rolling by dung beetles is considered to be a derived behaviour that evolved under pressure for space, and from competitors at the dung pat. Straight-line orientation away from the pat using a celestial cue should be the most successful rolling strategy to move dung to an unknown burial site. We tested this hypothesis in the field and the laboratory by presenting five species of ball-rolling beetles with different orientation tasks, involving reaction to obstacles as well as to reflected sunlight and artificial light sources. Beetles were found to consistently orientate along a chosen route, usually in the direction of the sun. Beetles rolling dung balls successfully negotiated barriers and returned to the original path as did beetles falling from ramps, or rotated about a fixed point while rolling a ball. The sun was found to be the main orientation cue, which could be substituted by reflected or artificial light. However, beetles reoriented themselves less accurately in response to lights in the laboratory, than they did to the reflected sun in the field. It is probable that phototactic orientation using the sun, which is widespread amongst arthropods, has been incorporated in the straight-line foraging behaviour that has evolved in ball-rolling dung beetles.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bartholomew GA, Heinrich B (1978) Endothermy in African dung beetles during flight, ball making and ball rolling. J Exp Biol 73:65–83
Birukow G (1953) Photogeomenotaxis bei Geotrupes silvaticus Panz. Naturwissenschaften 2
Bernon G (1981) Species abundance and diversity of the Coleoptera component of a South African cow dung community, and associated insect predators. PhD thesis, University of Bowling Green, Ohio
Brandon SGF (1985) Man, myth and magic; scarabs. In: R. Cavendish (ed) The illustrated encyclopaedia of mythology, religion and the unknown. Marshall Cavendish, New York, pp 2488–2489
Cambefort Y (1991) From saprophagy to coprophagy. In: Hanski I, Cambefort Y (eds) Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Cambefort Y, Hanski I (1991) Dung beetle population biology. In: Hanski I, Cambefort Y (eds) Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Campan R (1997) Tactic components in orientation. In: Lehrer M (ed) Orientation and communication in arthropods. Birkhauser, Basel
Collett M, Collett TS (2000a) How do insects use path integration for their navigation? Biol Cybern 83:245–259
Collett TS, Collett M (2000b) Path integration in insects. Curr Opin Neurobiol 10:757–62
Fraenkel GS, Gunn KL (1961) The orientation of animals: kineses, taxas and compass reactions. Dover, New York
Frantsevich L, Govardovski V, Gribakin F, Nikolajev G, Pichka V, Polansky A, Shevchenko V, Zolotov V (1977) Astro-orientation in Lethrus (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). J Comp Physiol 121:253–271
Frisch K von (1967) The dance language and orientation of bees. Belknap Press, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts
Geisler M (1961) Untersuchungen zur Tagesperiodik des Mistkäfers Geotrupes silvaticus Panz. Z Tierpsychol 18:389–420
Heinrich B, Bartholomew GA (1979) Roles of endothermy and size in inter- and intraspecific competition for elephant dung in an African dung beetle, Scarabaeus laevistriatus. Physiol Zool 52:489–496
Lehrer M (1996) Small scale navigation in the honeybee: active acquisition of visual information about the goal. J Exp Biol 199:253–261
Lehrer M (1997) Honeybee's visual spatial orientation at the feeding site. In: Lehrer M (ed) Orientation and communication in arthropods. Birkhauser, Basel
Lehrer M (1998) Looking all around: honeybees use different cues in different eye regions. J Exp Biol 201:3275–3292
Matthews EG (1963) Observations on the ball rolling behaviour of Canthon pilularius (L.) (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae). Psyche 70:75–93
Pardi L, Papi F (1953) Ricerche sull'orientamento durante il gorno in una popolazione del litorale tirrenico. Z Vergl Physiol 35:459–489
Sato H, Imamori I (1987) Nesting behaviour in the subsocial African ball-roller Kheper platynotus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Ecol Entomol 12:415–425
Srinivasan MV, Poteser M, Kral K (1999) Motion detection in insect orientation and navigation. Vision Res 39:2749–2766
Tomkins JL, Simmons LW, Knell RJ, Norris K (1999) Correlates of ball size and rolling speed in the dung beetle Kheper nigroaeneus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). J Zool 248:483–487
Tribe GD (1975) Pheromone release by dung beetles (Coleoptera; Scarabaeidae) S Afr J Science 71:277–278
Ugolini A, LaHart B, Castellini C, Bengnon A (1993) Celestial orientation and ultraviolet perception in Talitrus saltator. Ethol Ecol Evol 5:489–499
Waterman TH (1989) Animal navigation. Scientific American Books, New York
Wehner R (1984) Astronavigation in Insects. Annu Rev Entomol 29:277–298
Ybarrondo BA, Heinrich B (1996) Thermoregulation and response to competition in the African dung beetle Kheper nigroaeneus. Physiol Zool 69:35–48
Zar JH (1996) Biostastical analysis, 3rd edn. Prentice Hall, New Jersey
Acknowledgements
The following are thanked for their assistance. Ryan Nadel for the electron micrographs. David Alexander, owner of Cinergy Game Farm for allowing us to work on his farm and for making his infrastructure available to us. The general manager of De Beers Consolidated Mines, Kleinzee, for permission to work in areas under mine control. Colleagues in the Ecophysiological Studies Research Group, Alberto Ugolini of Universita' di Firenze, and two anonymous referees, whose extensive comments have greatly improved the manuscript. The Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the South African National Research Agency (NRF) funded this research. All of the above experiments were conducted in a manner that complied with current laws of countries in which they were conducted.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Byrne, M., Dacke, M., Nordström, P. et al. Visual cues used by ball-rolling dung beetles for orientation. J Comp Physiol A 189, 411–418 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-003-0415-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00359-003-0415-1