|
Vol. 48 No. 3, 2009
Colonization of Forest Elephant Dung by Invertebrates in the Bossematié Forest Reserve, Ivory Coast
Jörn Theuerkauf1,*, Sophie Rouys2, Arno L. van Berge Henegouwen3, Frank-Thorsten Krell4, Sławomir Mazur5, and Michael Mühlenberg6
1Museum and Institute of Zoology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Wilcza 64, Warsaw 00-679, Poland
2Conservation Research New Caledonia, B.P. 2549, Nouméa Cedex 98846, New Caledonia
3Museon, Stadhouderslaan 37, HV Den Haag 2517, The Netherlands
4Department of Zoology, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, 2001 Colorado Boulevard, Denver, CO 80205-5798, USA
5Department of Forest Protection and Ecology, Warsaw Agricultural University, Nowoursynowska 159/34, Warsaw 02-776, Poland
6Centre for Nature Conservation, University of Göttingen, Göttingen 37075, Germany
Jörn
Theuerkauf, Sophie Rouys, Arno L. van Berge Henegouwen, Frank-Thorsten
Krell, Sławomir Mazur, and Michael Mühlenberg (2009) We studied the temporal succession and species richness of invertebrates in 18 droppings of African forest elephants (Loxodonta cyclotis)
in the Bossematié Forest Reserve, Ivory Coast. We identified 19
species of the Scarabaeidae and of Hydrophilidae each, and 9 species of
Histeridae. The Hydrophilidae colonized fresh dung but quickly
disappeared when droppings began to dry. The Scarabaeidae mainly
occurred in 12-40-h-old droppings. Colonization by the predatory
Histeridae peaked after 10 h, but this group persisted longer in dung
than did either the Hydrophilidae or Scarabaeidae. The
Staphylinidae and Diptera quickly colonized droppings, whereas
Blattodea nymphs and predatory Acarina occurred relatively later.
Key words: Coleoptera, Histeridae, Hydrophilidae, Loxodonta cyclotis, Scarabaeidae.
*Correspondence: E-mail:jtheuer@miiz.waw.pl
|
