Wild collecting Dung Beetles?

davehuth

davehuth

L3
Hello - With the warmer weather in NY state, but without the undergrowth leafed out in the forest yet, I've been finding many small dung beetles that I'm pretty sure are Ataenius imbricatus, or something similar. I haven't collected them yet, but I'm curious about them and I'm wondering if anyone has advice about keeping and breeding them. I've never kept dung beetles before, so like most newbies I'm curious about supplying them with food. Lots of advice online, but not as many conversations discuss the aesthetics of husbandry, which has to be part of my spousal negotiations if I'm going to bring these happy poop eaters into the house. 😋What might I expect regarding mess, odors, divorce proceedings? Thanks!

 
That's wonderful, thanks very much. Phanaeus have caught my eye before, for sure. A deeper dive into some papers online, it looks like some Ataenius sp. can be quite easy to culture. Some may not even require dung. Thanks again.

 
Ataenius is not a genus associating with dung beetles, like Phanaeus. Genus Ataenius is under Subfamily Aphodiinae. Dung beetles that Goliathus (person above) talks about is the Subfamily Scarabaeinae. They are two very different groups. If you ever found species in Ataenius, I highly doubt that you identified it to the species level properly enough, because they are very small sized beetles that no non-specialist cannot possibly identify to the species level, or even to the genus level. It is that difficult, and that small to just look into it with naked eyes.

If your collections were very small sized (less than 1/2 inch), and you are positive they are dung beetles, then they are probably Onthophagus species. Try take pictures and share with us to see if they are Ataenius. I'm not trying to offend you in any ways, but I'm just explaining you the two different beetle groups. If you are interested in Phanaeus vindex, I can send you some later in May. I have couple friends asked me to collect some for them, so I'm planning to collect some, and I can collect an extra for you.

In the meanwhile, image attached is Ataenius platensis (Blanchard) I collected years ago. This is the general look of Ataenius and many other subfamily Aphodiinae. This pictured specimen is probably somewhere 3 to 4 mm.

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Thank you very much for the information and for untangling some of the relationships between these beetles groups. The beetles I saw were very small (yes, less than half inch), and seen on dog feces in 3 locations. I'll return to the location as soon as I can and photograph them and upload the pictures here. Thanks again!

 
I’m embarrassed these photos are not great. All I have on hand is an older iPad. I’ll be able to take some much better photos next week.

These beetles are plentiful along the forest trails near my home in Allegany County, NY. It’s a popular trail to walk dogs, and this evening there were 5 to 10 beetles on every dog dump I found (I brought my own dog along to sniff them out in the leaf litter off trail).

Looking closer I think my original ID was way off, and I have no idea what they are. They are about the size or slightly smaller than Bolitotherus cornutus. 

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Thank you very much for this ID. This interesting group of beetles has been completely off my radar. It's sent me down a whole set of rabbit trails learning about their natural history and speculating about how I might try keeping them in captivity to observe them more closely. Thanks again.

 
Yes, the Trogidae are rather interesting - they're members of the Scarabaeoidea, but are more heavily armored than most, and have unusual feeding habits.  They only show up at carcasses very late, when all that's left is the skin and hair (or feathers).  The larvae have the typical scarab form, and live in vertical burrows in the ground underneath the food source.  Some species, such as Omorgus tatei and O. gigas (both from Australia) have prominent, cone-shaped projections on the elytra.

 
davehuth said:
I’m embarrassed these photos are not great. All I have on hand is an older iPad. I’ll be able to take some much better photos next week.

These beetles are plentiful along the forest trails near my home in Allegany County, NY. It’s a popular trail to walk dogs, and this evening there were 5 to 10 beetles on every dog dump I found (I brought my own dog along to sniff them out in the leaf litter off trail).

Looking closer I think my original ID was way off, and I have no idea what they are. They are about the size or slightly smaller than Bolitotherus cornutus. 
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Yes, those attached images, as [Goliathus] stated, are beetles in family Troxidae. They are also one of the carrion/feces attracted beetles. There are so many different beetle species attracted to feces and dead animal / plants. Different species attracted to feces of many different animals. Can be quite confusing when their sizes are small.

 
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