| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 2006 |
| Authors: | O. P. Young |
| Journal: | Journal of the New York Entomological Society |
| Volume: | 114 |
| Pagination: | 157-169 |
| Keywords: | Ateuchus histeroides, carrion, dead insects, Dung, longevity, progeny., Scarabaeidae, starvation |
| Abstract: | Abstract.—Through a series of laboratory feeding trials, it was demonstrated that the putative dung beetle, Ateuchus histeroides Weber (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), is a consumer of both vertebrate dung and insect carrion, and that it can produce progeny reared on either of those foods. There was no significant difference between the survival periods of adults maintained on either cow dung or dead insects, but both groups survived significantly longer than a group deprived of food. This is the first documentation of both dung and carrion feeding and subsequent progeny production for a member of this genus. |