Abstract
Dung beetles use a variety of vertebrate dung to provision their offspring. To locate these resources, dung beetles use volatile substances emitted from dung as cues. Although it has been shown in laboratory tests that dung beetles are able to discriminate between different dung types using dung volatiles as kairomones, the attraction of particular dung volatiles and their potential role in resource partitioning of dung types have never been tested in field experiments. For the present study, we conducted field experiments in Austria and two regions in Argentina using pitfall traps baited with either herbivore dung types or synthetic compounds of the dung bouquet (butyric acid, 2-butanone, skatole, indole, and blends of these compounds) to investigate which components or simple mixtures are cues for several taxa of dung beetles. Additionally, we analyzed the degree of specialization of dung beetle species and communities on particular scent types and herbivore dung. Our results show that butyric acid in particular is an important volatile cue for dung beetles. Dung beetles show a preference for some scent types, but turned out to be generalists. This finding is in congruence with the assumption that organisms living from ephemeral resources should rather be generalists instead of specialists.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Amann A, de Lacy Costello B, Miekisch W, Schubert J, Buszewski B, Pleil J, Ratcliffe N, Risby T (2014) The human volatilome: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in exhaled breath, skin emanations, urine, feces and saliva. J Breath Res 8:034001
Baraldi R, Rapparini F, Rossi F, Latella A, Ciccioli P (1999) Volatile organic compound emission from flowers of the most occurring and economically important species of fruit trees. Phys Chem Earth 24:729–732
Benjamini Y, Hochberg Y (1995) Controlling the false discovery rate: a practical and powerful approach to multiple testing. J Roy Stat Soc B Met 57:289–300
Bischoff M, Raguso RA, Jürgens A, Campbell DR (2015) Context-dependent reproductive isolation mediated by floral scent and color. Evolution 69:1–13
Blüthgen N, Menzel F, Blüthgen N (2006) Measuring specialization in species interaction networks. BMC Ecol 6:9
Blüthgen N, Menzel F, Hovestadt T, Fiala B, Blüthgen N (2007) Specialization, constraints, and conflicting interests in mutualistic networks. Curr Biol 17:341–346
Burger BV, Petersen WGB, Weber WG, Munro ZM (2002) Semiochemicals of the Scarabaeinae. VII: identification and synthesis of EAD-active constituents of abdominal sex attracting secretion of the male dung beetle, Kheper subaeneus. J Chem Ecol 28:2527–2539
Butts CT (2013) sna: Tools for Social Network Analysis. http://CRAN.R-project.org/package=sna. R package version 2.3–1
Carpaneto GM, Mazziotta A, Pittino R, Luiselli L (2011) Exploring co-extinction correlates: the effects of habitat, biogeography and anthropogenic factors on ground squirrels-dung beetles associations. Biodivers Conserv 20:3059–3076
Dangles O, Carpio C, Woodward G (2012) Size-dependent species removal impairs ecosystem functioning in a large-scale tropical field experiment. Ecology 93:2615–2625
Davis EE (1988) Structure-response relationship of the lactic acid- excited neurons in the antennal grooved-peg sensilla of the mosquito Aedes aegypti. J Insect Physiol 34:443–449
Dormann CF, Fründ J, Blüthgen N, Gruber B (2009) Indices, graphs and null models: analyzing bipartite ecological networks. Open Ecol J 2:7–24
Dormont L, Epinat G, Lumaret JP (2004) Trophic preferences mediated by olfactory cues in dung beetles colonizing cattle and horse dung. Environ Entomol 33:370–377
Dormont L, Rapior S, McKey D, Lumaret JP (2007) Influence of dung volatiles on the process of resource selection by coprophagous beetles. Chemoecology 17:23–30
Dormont L, Jay-Robert P, Bessière JM, Rapior S, Lumaret JP (2010) Innate olfactory preferences in dung beetles. J Exp Biol 213:3177–3186
Dormont L, Bessière J-M, Cohuet A (2013) Human skin volatiles: a review. J Chem Ecol 39:569–578
Errouissi F, Jay-Robert P, Lumaret JP, Piau O (2004) Composition and structure of dung beetle (Coleoptera: Aphodiinae, Geotrupidae, Scarabaeidae) assemblages in mountain grasslands of the Southern Alps. Ann Entomol Soc Am 97:701–709
Estrada A, Halffter G, Coates-Estrada R, Meritt DA Jr (1993) Dung beetles attracted to mammalian herbivore (Alouatta palliate) and omnivore (Nasua narica) dung in the tropical rain forest of Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. J Trop Ecol 9:45–54
Finn JA, Giller PS (2000) Patch size and colonisation patterns: an experimental analysis using north temperate coprophagous dung beetles. Ecography 23:301–314
Finn JA, Giller PS (2002) Experimental investigations of colonisation by north temperate dung beetles of different types of domestic herbivore dung. Appl Soil Ecol 20:1–13
Galante E, Cartagena MC (1999) Comparison of Mediterranean dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) in cattle and rabbit dung. Environ Entomol 28:420–424
Gill BD (1991) Dung beetles in tropical American forests. In: Hanski I, Cambefort Y (eds) Dung Beetle Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 211–229
Hanski I (1987) Nutritional ecology of dung- and carrion-feeding. In: Slansky F Jr, Rodriguez JG (eds) Nutritional ecology of insects, mites, spiders and related invertebrates. Wiley, London, pp 837–884
Hanski I (1991) The dung insect community. In: Hanski I, Cambefort Y (eds) Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 5–21
Hanski I, Cambefort Y (1991) Dung beetle ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Hassan FAM, Abd El-Gawad MAM, Enab AK (2013) Flavour compounds in cheese (review). Res Prec Instr Mach 2:15–29
Inouchi J, Shibuyo T, Hatanaka T (1988) Food odor responses of single antennal olfactory cells in the Japanese dung beetle, Geotrupes auratus (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae). Appl Entomol Zool 23:167–174
Jeanbourquin P, Guerin PM (2007) Chemostimuli implicated in selection of oviposition substrates by the stable fly Stomoxys calcitrans. Med Vet Entomol 21:209–216
Kimura R (2001) Volatile substances in feces, urine and urine-marked feces of feral horses. Can J Anim Sci 81:411–420
Kline DL, Mann MO (1998) Evaluation of butanone, carbon dioxide, and 1-octen-3-ol as attractants for mosquitoes associated with north central Florida bay and cypress swamps. J Am Mosq Contr Assoc 14:289–297
Knudsen JT, Eriksson R, Gershenzon J, Stahl B (2006) Diversity and distribution of floral scent. Bot Rev 72:1–120
Krell FT, Schmitt T (in press) The fecal volatilome—a compilation of the odorous components of vertebrate feces. Denver Museum of Nature & Science Reports
Larsen HL, Lopera A, Forsyth A (2006) Extreme trophic and habitat specialization by Peruvian dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). Coleopts Bull 60:315–324
Lumaret JP, Kirk AA (1987) Ecology of dung beetles in the French Mediterranean region (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae). Acta Zool Mexicana 24:1–55
Martín-Piera F, Lobo JM (1996) A comparative discussion of trophic preferences in dung beetle communities. Miscel.lania Zooloqica 19:13–31
Mottram HR, Flament IA (1996) The volatile constituents of the flowers of the ‘silk tree’, Albizzia julibrissin. Special Publ Roy Soc Chem 197:74–77
Ohta Y, Kuwada Y (1988) Rapid deodorization of cattle feces by microorganisms. Biol Waste 24:227–240
Ojeda RA, Campos CM, Gonnet JM, Borghi CE, Roig VG (1998) The MaB Reserve of Ñacuñán, Argentina: its role in understanding the Monte Desert biome. J Arid Environ 39:299–313
Oksanen J, Blanchet FG, Kindt R, Legendre P, Minchin PR, O’Hara RB, Simpson GL, Solymos P, Stevens MHH, Wagner H (2012) Vegan: Community Ecology Package. R package version 2.0–4. http://CRAN.Rproject.org/package=https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/vegan/
Ômura H, Honda K, Hayashi N (2000) Identification of feeding attractants in oak sap for adults of two nymphalid butterflies, Kaniska canace and Vanessa indica. Physiol Entomol 25:281–287
Pfrommer A, Krell FT (2004) Who steals the eggs? Coprophanaeus telamon (Erichson) buries decomposing eggs in Western Amazonian rain forest (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Coleopts Bull 58:21–27
Philips TK (2011) The evolutionary history and diversification of dung beetles. In: Simmons LW, Ridsdill-Smith TJ (eds) Ecology and evolution of dung beetles. Blackwell Publishing, Chichester, pp 21–46
Robertson GW, Griffiths DW, Smith WM, Butcher RD (1993) The application of thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry to the analyses of flower volatiles from five varieties of oilseed rape (Brassica napus spp. oleifera). Phytochem Analysis 4:152–157
Rubio G, Minoli I, Piacentini L (2007) Patrones de abundancia de cinco especies de arañas lobo (Araneae: Lycosidae) en dos ambientes del Parque Nacional Mburucuyá, Corrientes, Argentina. Brenesia 67:59–67
Simpson GL (2012) permute: Functions for generating restricted permutations of data. R package version 0.7–0. https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=permute
Smallegange RC, Qiu YT, Bukovinszkiné-Kiss G, Van Loon JJA, Takken W (2009) The effect of aliphatic carboxylic acids on olfaction-based host-seeking of the malaria mosquito Anopheles gambiae sensu stricto. J Chem Ecol 35:933–943
Whipple SD, Hoback WW (2012) A comparison of dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) attraction to native and exotic mammal dung. Environ Entomol 41:238–244
Wirta H, Viljanen H, Orsini L, Montreuil O, Hanski I (2010) Three parallel radiations of Canthonini dung beetles in Madagascar. Mol Phylogenet Evol 57:710–727
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Electronic supplementary material
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wurmitzer, C., Blüthgen, N., Krell, FT. et al. Attraction of dung beetles to herbivore dung and synthetic compounds in a comparative field study. Chemoecology 27, 75–84 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-017-0232-6
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-017-0232-6