Several reviews of dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) behavior and ecology, as well as numerous research reports, have either implicitely or explicitely indicated that predation on dung scarabs is rare or absent and thus of minimal or no importance to the biology of the group. This review presents 610 records of predation on dung beetles by 409 species of birds, mammals, reptiles and amphibians from around the world. The involvement of invertebrates as predators on dung scarabs is also documented. It is concluded that this data establishes predation as a potentially major factor in the evolution and current behavior and ecology of dung beetles. The data presented also represents a considerable underestimation of predation on the group. PART 1 – INTRODUCTION, HIGHLIGHTS, DISCUSSION, LITERATURE CITED

http://authors.entomology-aes.org/article/public/27.pdf

Predation on Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): A Literature Review

Feeding strategies in foliage-gleaning bats should be affected by insect availability and the constraints imposed by the environment. Under strong preferences for particular insect prey, habitat should not have an effect on the expected similarities in diet among conspecific bat colonies occupying different environments. We compared the diet of Micronycteris megalotis individuals in two colonies located at different sites in the Andean slopes of northwestern Ecuador, based on insect remains collected at feeding roosts. Our analysis revealed that lepidopterans were extremely abundant in the diet of bats that forage in grasslands (52% of all insect remains), whereas the diet of bats that roost in primary forest consists mostly of coleopterans (85%). Log-linear analyses suggested that Lepidoptera is an influential group determining differences in feeding habits between both colonies, and that there are temporal fluctuations in diet independent of the habitats that were sampled. Analyses of the famil...

David Lasso

Papers

Diet variability of Micronycteris megalotis in pristine and disturbed habitats of Northwestern Ecuador