Beetlebee Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 Do you think dung beetles would eat other beetle larvae feces?? Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle-Experience Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 I wouldn't be surprised if there was a species that does, but they would likely be tiny. Most larval frass would be too dry and compact for them to work with I think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratmosphere Posted March 30, 2017 Report Share Posted March 30, 2017 +1^. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetlebee Posted March 31, 2017 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Ah, dang. I have lots of larval poop and was hoping my dung beetles could make use of it! lol However I do have some dung from other animals that I could get. Peter's websites says people have had success with bearded dragon poop so I'm going to give that a shot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beetle-Experience Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Let us know how that works out. I've tried lots of crazy types for catching dung beetles (good friend used to work at a zoo), but have only used horse or cow for keeping them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade of Eclipse Posted March 31, 2017 Report Share Posted March 31, 2017 Frass from detritus-feeding beetles is pretty much just lignin and other materials that they are incapable of digesting, so I highly doubt you'd be able to feed them with that. The digestion systems of vertebrates are really quite inefficient and lots of poorly-digested bits and pieces of food are left behind. There's quite a lot of cellulose, some fats, and very tough proteins in feces as well as an abundance of bacteria that can also be nutrients for things capable of digesting them. If it doesn't stink, attract detrivores, or decompose very quickly in moist environments, it's probably low in readily accessible nutrients! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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