Resource Utilization and Temporal Segregation of Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae) Community in a Caatinga Fragment.

We characterized dung beetles food preference and diel activity and examined the way such characteristics may structure a Scarabaeinae community in a dry forest. We sampled a fragment of Arboreal Caatinga in Milagres, Bahia, Brazil, during the dry and wet seasons, using baited pitfall (bovine spleen, human feces, cow dung, and rotten banana). Species were classified by activity (nocturnal and diurnal) and food preference (coprophagous, necrophagous, saprophagous, copro-necrophagous, and generalist). In total, 1,581 individuals belonging to 16 morphospecies were sampled, with six new records for Caatinga. The dung beetles were mainly from generalist and coprophagous species; seven species presented nocturnal activity, and five were diurnal. There was higher species richness during the day and greater abundance during the night. Species composition differences were influenced by functional guilds and beetle size according to temporal segregation. These factors may be related to physiological, morphological, and behavioral differences.

New records, threatens and conservation status for Dichotomius schiffleri Vaz-de-Mello, Louzada & Gavino (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): an endangered dung beetle species from Brazilian atlantic forest ecosystems.

Dichotomius schiffleri Vaz-de-Mello et al is often cited as endemic to the preserved coastal sandy-dune vegetation (restinga) of Guriri Island, Espírito Santo state, and is included in the Brazilian List of Endangered Fauna as "critically endangered" (CR). However, we recorded its occurrence in twelve additional sites along the coasts of Espírito Santo, Bahia, Sergipe and Pernambuco. The geographic distribution of D. schiffleri is limited to the coastal Atlantic Forest domain, mainly in preserved restinga patches. We recommend that D. schiffleri remains in the List of Endangered species, but in the "endangered" (EN) category, according to the IUCN criteria.