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Perri DV, Bruzzone O, Easdale MH. Ecological relationships between coprophagous insects and livestock production: a review. BULLETIN OF ENTOMOLOGICAL RESEARCH 2023; 113:735-747. [PMID: 37855149 DOI: 10.1017/s0007485323000494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
The ecological function played by the coprophagous insects is an important issue in livestock production contexts. The role of this fauna, specially dung beetles, provides benefits to both rangelands and production performance. This interaction has been studied and reported in many scientific articles, in very different places and with diverse production contexts. However, a comprehensive review of the relationship between coprophagous insects and livestock production is still lacking. We reviewed the research studies on this topic during the past five decades, with a focus in Scarabaeidae taxon and livestock production, in order to identify further research priorities. We analysed 435 research articles. The main results were: (I) studies were mostly located in temperate broadleaf forest biome, whereas arid environments were less studied; (II) Production practices impacts category was the most studied, for which the effects produced by antiparasitic products on the coprophagous insects (n = 93; 21% of total revised articles) was the topics with major number of articles. Followed was Biology category (n = 69; 16%), then in Ecosystem function category the most frequent studies were on dung removal (n = 40; 9%), whereas in the Ecosystem Services category the most frequent studies were on biological control (n = 28; 6%); (III) Australia, Mexico, Brazil, and United States were the countries with most research articles. We identified some knowledge gaps on relevant ecological functions of this fauna, in relation to benefits to livestock production. There is a need for future research on nutrient cycling, bioturbation, effects on primary production and vegetation diversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daiana V Perri
- Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB), Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Modesta Victoria 4450 San Carlos de Bariloche, CP 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - Octavio Bruzzone
- Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB), Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Modesta Victoria 4450 San Carlos de Bariloche, CP 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
| | - Marcos H Easdale
- Instituto de Investigaciones Forestales y Agropecuarias Bariloche (IFAB), Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA) and Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Modesta Victoria 4450 San Carlos de Bariloche, CP 8400, Rio Negro, Argentina
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Perera NN, Barrow RA, Weston PA, Rolland V, Hands P, Gurusinghe S, Weston LA, Gurr GM. Characterisation of Antennal Sensilla and Electroantennography Responses of the Dung Beetles Bubas bison, Onitis aygulus and Geotrupes spiniger (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea) to Dung Volatile Organic Compounds. INSECTS 2023; 14:627. [PMID: 37504633 PMCID: PMC10380661 DOI: 10.3390/insects14070627] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/29/2023]
Abstract
Locating sporadically distributed food resources and mate finding are strongly aided by volatile cues for most insects, including dung beetles. However, there is limited information on the olfactory ecology of dung beetles. We conducted a scanning electron microscopy study on the morphology and distribution of the antennal sensilla of three introduced dung beetle species in Australia: Geotrupes spiniger (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae), Bubas bison and Onitis aygulus (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Three main morphological types of antennal sensilla were identified: sensilla trichodea (ST), sensilla basiconica (SB) and sensilla chaetica (SCh). Distinct variations of SB distribution were observed in B. bison and G. spiniger and on different lamellar surfaces in both sexes of all three species. Sexual dimorphism in antennal sensilla distribution or their abundance was not evident. To complement the morphological characterisation of sensilla, electroantennography (EAG) was carried out to construct EAG response profiles of the three species to selected dung volatiles. An initial study revealed that antennae of all species were sensitive to a mix of phenol, skatole, indole, p-cresol, butanone and butyric acid, common components of livestock dung headspace. In addition to these six compounds, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, eucalyptol and toluene were tested for antennal activity. All compounds evoked measurable EAG responses, confirming antennal sensitivity. Geotrupes spiniger exhibited significant responses to all the compounds compared to the control, whereas B. bison and O. aygulus only responded to a subset of compounds. A comparison of relative EAG amplitudes revealed highly significant responses to p-cresol in G. spiniger and to skatole in B. bison. Geotrupes spiniger displayed differential responses to all the compounds. Pooled EAG data suggest highly significant differences in responses among the three species and among compounds. Our findings suggest that a blend of volatiles may offer potential for the trapping of dung beetles, thereby avoiding the use of dung baits that are inconvenient, inconsistent and may pose a threat to farm biosecurity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nisansala N Perera
- Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
- School of Agriculture, Environment and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
| | - Russell A Barrow
- Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
| | - Paul A Weston
- Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
- School of Agriculture, Environment and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
| | - Vivien Rolland
- CSIRO, Agriculture and Food, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Philip Hands
- CSIRO, Agriculture and Food, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia
| | - Saliya Gurusinghe
- Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
| | - Leslie A Weston
- Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
- School of Agriculture, Environment and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
| | - Geoff M Gurr
- Gulbali Institute of Agriculture, Water and Environment, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia
- School of Agriculture, Environment and Veterinary Sciences, Charles Sturt University, Leeds Parade, Orange, NSW 2800, Australia
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Contrasting Volatilomes of Livestock Dung Drive Preference of the Dung Beetle Bubas bison (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Molecules 2022; 27:molecules27134152. [PMID: 35807397 PMCID: PMC9268081 DOI: 10.3390/molecules27134152] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/22/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Volatile cues can play a significant role in the location and discrimination of food resources by insects. Dung beetles have been reported to discriminate among dung types produced by different species, thereby exhibiting behavioral preferences. However, the role of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in dung localization and preference remains largely unexplored in dung beetles. Here we performed several studies: firstly, cage olfactometer bioassays were performed to evaluate the behavioral responses of Bubas bison (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) to VOCs emanating from fresh horse, sheep, and cattle dung; secondly, concurrent volatilome analysis was performed to characterize volatilomes of these dung types. Bubas bison adults exhibited greater attraction to horse dung and less attraction to cattle dung, and they preferred dung from horses fed a pasture-based diet over dung from those fed lucerne hay. Volatilomes of the corresponding dung samples from each livestock species contained a diverse group of alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, phenols, and sulfurous compounds, but the composition and abundance of annotated VOCs varied with dung type and livestock diet. The volatilome of horse dung was the most chemically diverse. Results from a third study evaluating electroantennogram response and supplementary olfactometry provided strong evidence that indole, butyric acid, butanone, p-cresol, skatole, and phenol, as well as toluene, are involved in the attraction of B. bison to dung, with a mixture of these components significantly more attractive than individual constituents.
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Gfrerer E, Laina D, Wagner R, Gibernau M, Hörger AC, Comes HP, Dötterl S. Antennae of psychodid and sphaerocerid flies respond to a high variety of floral scent compounds of deceptive Arum maculatum L. Sci Rep 2022; 12:5086. [PMID: 35332183 PMCID: PMC8948215 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-08196-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Insect-pollinated plants often release complex mixtures of floral scents to attract their pollinators. Yet scent compounds eliciting physiological or behavioural responses in pollinators have only been identified in few plant species. The sapromyiophilous aroid Arum maculatum releases a highly diverse dung-like scent with overall more than 300 different compounds recorded so far to attract its psychodid and other fly pollinators. The volatiles' role in pollinator attraction is mostly unknown. To identify potential behaviourally active compounds, we recorded electroantennographic responses of four Psychodidae and one Sphaeroceridae species to (1) inflorescence scents of A. maculatum and (2) the scents released by cow dung, likely imitated by the plant species. Here we show that these flies are sensitive to 78 floral volatiles of various chemical classes, 18 of which were also found in cow dung. Our study, which for the first time determined physiologically active compounds in the antennae of Psychoda spp. and Sphaeroceridae, identified various volatiles not known to be biologically active in any floral visitors so far. The obtained results help deciphering the chemical basis that enables A. maculatum and other plants, pollinated by psychodids and sphaerocerids, to attract and deceive their pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Gfrerer
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Danae Laina
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Rüdiger Wagner
- Department of Limnology, University of Kassel, 34127, Kassel, Germany
| | - Marc Gibernau
- Laboratory of Sciences for the Environment, CNRS - University of Corsica, 20000, Ajaccio, France
| | - Anja C Hörger
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Hans Peter Comes
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Stefan Dötterl
- Department of Environment and Biodiversity, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, 5020, Salzburg, Austria.
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Gfrerer E, Laina D, Gibernau M, Fuchs R, Happ M, Tolasch T, Trutschnig W, Hörger AC, Comes HP, Dötterl S. Floral Scents of a Deceptive Plant Are Hyperdiverse and Under Population-Specific Phenotypic Selection. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2021; 12:719092. [PMID: 34630465 PMCID: PMC8500232 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.719092] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2021] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Floral scent is a key mediator in plant-pollinator interactions. However, little is known to what extent intraspecific scent variation is shaped by phenotypic selection, with no information yet in deceptive plants. In this study, we collected inflorescence scent and fruit set of the deceptive moth fly-pollinated Arum maculatum L. (Araceae) from six populations north vs. five populations south of the Alps, accumulating to 233 samples in total, and tested for differences in scent, fruit set, and phenotypic selection on scent across this geographic barrier. We recorded 289 scent compounds, the highest number so far reported in a single plant species. Most of the compounds occurred both north and south of the Alps; however, plants of the different regions emitted different absolute and relative amounts of scent. Fruit set was higher north than south of the Alps, and some, but not all differences in scent could be explained by differential phenotypic selection in northern vs. southern populations. This study is the first to provide evidence that floral scents of a deceptive plant are under phenotypic selection and that phenotypic selection is involved in shaping geographic patterns of floral scent in such plants. The hyperdiverse scent of A. maculatum might result from the imitation of various brood substrates of its pollinators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eva Gfrerer
- Department of Biosciences, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Danae Laina
- Department of Biosciences, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Marc Gibernau
- Laboratory of Sciences for the Environment, CNRS – University of Corsica, Ajaccio, France
| | - Roman Fuchs
- Department of Biosciences, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Martin Happ
- Lab for Intelligent Data Analytics Salzburg, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Till Tolasch
- FG Tierökologie, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany
| | - Wolfgang Trutschnig
- Department of Mathematics, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Anja C. Hörger
- Department of Biosciences, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Hans Peter Comes
- Department of Biosciences, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
| | - Stefan Dötterl
- Department of Biosciences, Paris Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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