Abstract
Dung beetles play significant role in the ecosystems by nutrient recycling and
waste removal. The study was conducted to explore the distributional patterns of dung beetle
assemblages on local scales. The sampling was accomplished by surveying grassy fields,
croplands, old dung piles and fresh dung pats from selected locales of Sialkot during 2016.
Specimens were collected by hand picking and cattle dung baited pitfall traps. Sixteen species
representing three guilds i.e. Paracoprid (10 species), Endocoprid (4 species) and Telecoprid (02
species) were recorded. Onitis excavatus (27.68 %) and Onitis crassus (9.59 %) showed maximum
relative abundance whereas Helocopris bucephalus (0.15 %) and Onthophagus bonasus (0.15 %)
were the least abundant species. A. contaminatus, A. fossor and C. indicus were recorded only
in August and September whereas C. pithecius and C. platypus were noted in September only.
O. gazella were recorded in July, August and September, however, O. castaneous and O. bonasus
were not recorded in the month of May, June and August. Maximum abundance was recorded
in Mundeke whereas the least abundant site was Malkhanwala. O. excavatus and O. crassus
were dominated in the dung pats whereas G. bicallosus was most abundant in cropland areas.
Shannon-Wiener diversity index values calculated from different sites indicated variations in
species richness (H= 1.72-2.14) and evenness (e^= 0.65-0.85). Similar trend in the values of
other diversity indices were observed that indicated better richness and evenness of species.
The diversity reported from the Sialkot emphasizes on detailed surveys with respect to feeding
guilds, availability of vegetation types and dung preferences need to be explored.
Mubashar Hussain, Misbah Younas, Muhammad Faheem Malik, Muhammad Umar, Moazama Batool, Maimoona Kanwal. (2020) Spatio-temporal Diversity of Dung Beetles in Selected Locales of Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab University Journal of Zoology, Volume 35, Issue 1.
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