Comunidade de escarabeíneos (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) copro-necrófagos da região de Brejo Novo, Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brasil

Abstract

This paper reports the results of the preliminary survey of copro-necrophagous dung beetles of Brejo Novo region, Caruaru, Pernambuco, as well as some aspects of the community structure such as seasonality, diversity, equitability, richness and abundance of species. Ten samplings with intervals of 30 days and duration of 48 hours, fortnightly were done between September 2003 to July 2004. Scarab beetles were collected with 24 pitfall traps baited with two types of baits, human excrements and rotting bovine meat. A total of 1,540 individuals belonging to six tribes, 12 genera and 28 species were collected. The species Canthon af. carbonarius, Canthon chalybaeus, Dichotomius nisus, D. semisquamosus, Digitonthophagus gazella and Eurysternus hirtellus are, apparently, adapted to the studied environment. Traps baited with human excrements attracted 826 individuals and those with rotting bovine meat attracted 714 specimens. Large number of species (15) considered "rare" occurred, being three of them "singletons", two "doubletons" and 10 with abundance between three and 10 individuals; 13 species were considered "common". Of the analyzed species, seven present generalist alimentary habits, four are strictly coprophagous and one is strictly necrophagous. Positive correlations were verified between the precipitation and the abundance of the individuals and the species richness. This preliminary survey of the dung beetles of the Brejo Novo region contributed to increase the number of species registered for Pernambuco and northeast region of Brazil.