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Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan

Until now, little is known about the population structure and mobility of temperate dung beetles including the rainbow scarab, Phanaeus vindex (MacLeay 1819), although this knowledge is essential for their conservation as pastures become increasingly rare and the landscape fragmented by monocultures...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Wassmer, Thomas, Armstrong, Elise
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Oxford University Press 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10317053/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37399115
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iead050
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author Wassmer, Thomas
Armstrong, Elise
author_facet Wassmer, Thomas
Armstrong, Elise
author_sort Wassmer, Thomas
collection PubMed
description Until now, little is known about the population structure and mobility of temperate dung beetles including the rainbow scarab, Phanaeus vindex (MacLeay 1819), although this knowledge is essential for their conservation as pastures become increasingly rare and the landscape fragmented by monocultures and urbanization. Here, we estimated population size, longevity, and dispersal within and between pastures. For 3 yr, we life-trapped beetles every week on 2 adjacent farms in SE Michigan, determined their sex, male morph, and size, and marked their elytra with individual tattoo patterns before releasing them. We marked a total of 470 rainbow scarabs of which 14 were recaptured once and 2 were recaptured twice. The sex ratio was not significantly sex-biased but fluctuated between months with no apparent uniformity between years. While the minor to major male ratios were unbiased in 2019 and 2020, they were marginally minor-biased in 2021. The gross population estimates for the 2 farms were 458–491 and 217 rainbow scarabs, respectively. Beetles traveled distances of up to 178 m within farms. No beetles dispersed between farms. One large female was recaptured after 338 days documenting the first cold hardiness and long lifespan of a cold-temperate dung beetle species in the wild. The low population estimates on both farms indicate 2 vulnerable populations with no or extremely limited connectivity. Supplementary funding for the land stewardship of small-scale cattle farmers could stabilize populations of native dung beetles and maintain their ecosystem services.
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spelling pubmed-103170532023-07-04 Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan Wassmer, Thomas Armstrong, Elise J Insect Sci Research Until now, little is known about the population structure and mobility of temperate dung beetles including the rainbow scarab, Phanaeus vindex (MacLeay 1819), although this knowledge is essential for their conservation as pastures become increasingly rare and the landscape fragmented by monocultures and urbanization. Here, we estimated population size, longevity, and dispersal within and between pastures. For 3 yr, we life-trapped beetles every week on 2 adjacent farms in SE Michigan, determined their sex, male morph, and size, and marked their elytra with individual tattoo patterns before releasing them. We marked a total of 470 rainbow scarabs of which 14 were recaptured once and 2 were recaptured twice. The sex ratio was not significantly sex-biased but fluctuated between months with no apparent uniformity between years. While the minor to major male ratios were unbiased in 2019 and 2020, they were marginally minor-biased in 2021. The gross population estimates for the 2 farms were 458–491 and 217 rainbow scarabs, respectively. Beetles traveled distances of up to 178 m within farms. No beetles dispersed between farms. One large female was recaptured after 338 days documenting the first cold hardiness and long lifespan of a cold-temperate dung beetle species in the wild. The low population estimates on both farms indicate 2 vulnerable populations with no or extremely limited connectivity. Supplementary funding for the land stewardship of small-scale cattle farmers could stabilize populations of native dung beetles and maintain their ecosystem services. Oxford University Press 2023-07-03 /pmc/articles/PMC10317053/ /pubmed/37399115 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iead050 Text en © The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Research
Wassmer, Thomas
Armstrong, Elise
Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan
title Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan
title_full Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan
title_fullStr Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan
title_full_unstemmed Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan
title_short Population structure of Phanaeus vindex (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in SE Michigan
title_sort population structure of phanaeus vindex (coleoptera: scarabaeidae) in se michigan
topic Research
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10317053/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37399115
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jisesa/iead050
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