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Field-scale dispersal of Aphodius dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in response to avermectin treatments on pastured cattle

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

L. Webb ,
D.J. Beaumont ,
R.G. Nager  and
D.I. McCracken
L. Webb*
Affiliation:
Land Economy & Environment Research Group, Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr, KA6 5HW, UK
D.J. Beaumont
Affiliation:
Reserves Ecology, RSPB Scotland, 25 Ravelston Terrace, Edinburgh, EH4 3TP, UK
R.G. Nager
Affiliation:
Division of Environmental & Evolutionary Biology, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Graham Kerr Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK
D.I. McCracken
Affiliation:
Land Economy & Environment Research Group, Scottish Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr, KA6 5HW, UK
*
*Author for correspondence Fax: +44 141 331 9080 E-mail: lisa.webb@rspb.org.uk
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Abstract

Very few studies have examined, at the field scale, the potential for faecal residues in the dung of avermectin-treated cattle to affect dung-breeding insects. The current study examined populations of dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Aphodius) using pitfall traps baited with dung from untreated cattle on 26 fields across eight farms in southwest Scotland. The fields were grazed either by untreated cattle or by cattle treated with an avermectin product, i.e. doramectin or ivermectin. During the two-year study, significantly more beetles were trapped in fields grazed by treated cattle (n=9377 beetles) than in fields where cattle remained untreated (n=2483 beetles). Additional trials showed that beetles preferentially colonised dung of untreated versus doramectin-treated cattle. This may explain the higher captures of beetles in traps baited with dung of untreated cattle, which were located in fields of treated cattle. Given that Aphodius beetles avoided dung of treated cattle in the current study, the potential harmful effects of avermectin residues in cattle dung could be reduced through livestock management practices that maximise the availability of dung from untreated livestock in areas where avermectins are being used.

Keywords

attractioncolonisationdoramectinavermectinScarabaeidae
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 100 , Issue 2 , April 2010 , pp. 175 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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