A preliminary study on the dung beetles of the northern Western Ghats , Maharashtra , India

For Focus, Scope, Aims, Policies and Guidelines visit http://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-0 For Article Submission Guidelines visit http://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions For Policies against Scientific Misconduct visit http://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-2 For reprints contact <info@threatenedtaxa.org> Short Communication A preliminary study on the dung beetles of the northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India

dung beetles feed on many important agricultural crops causing economic losses amounting millions of rupees affecting the GDP of the country.The damage caused by scarab is severe in economic crops like sugarcane, groundnut, cereals, millets, pulses, vegetables and plantation crops.As per Kulkarni et al. (2007) incidence of scarab beetle, Schizonycha ruficollis in teak (Tectona grandis) lead to 14-52 % of damage to seedlings in the nursery beds itself.A species diversity study is vital for planning the pest management practices.Geographical variations with cropping pattern differences contribute to the composition of species complex of a region (Sreedevi et al. 2017).Hence, a diversity study of dung beetles would be helpful to the concerned authority in pest management options.
A few studies reported that the local distribution of dung beetles is strongly influenced by vegetation cover and soil type (Nealis 1977;Doube 1983;Janzen 1983).They are ideal bio-indicators for investigating impacts of anthropogenic disturbances to ecosystems.They have been used in several studies to investigate the effects of environmental disturbance on forest diversity and structure (Howden & Nealis 1975;Klein 1989;Nummelin & Hanski 1989;Davis & Sutton 1998;Davis 2000).Biodiversity surveys are important in providing information needed for conservation planning, and development of management plans, the rich biodiversity of the dung beetles are to be conserved and protected to maintain the ecological balance.
The Fauna of British India on Scarabaeid beetles was published in three volumes by Arrow (1910Arrow ( , 1917Arrow ( and 1931) ) describing 1,300 species from British India.The Fauna of Maharashtra Part-II: State Fauna series, listed 89 species in 32 genera belonging to six subfamilies under Scarabaeidae from Maharashtra (Jadhav & Sharma 2012).A total of 87 species in seven tribes, 13 genera of dung beetles was reported by Priyadarsanan (2006) from Biligiri Rangasamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary, a part of the Western Ghats.Veenakumari & Veeresh (1997) reported 61 species of Scarabaeinae from Bangalore, Karnataka, India.Sathiandran et al. (2015) studied 36 species of dung beetles from Periyar Tiger Reserve in southern Western Ghats.On perusal of literature, it was found that a comprehensive study on dung beetles with their distribution is lacking from northern Western Ghats of Maharashtra.Hence, an attempt was made to assess the diversity of dung beetles of this region.The present study on scarabaeid beetles was preliminary and covered the entire Western Ghats of Maharashtra for the first time with their distribution and different collection localities.

Materials and Methods
The surveys were undertaken from 2015-2017 covering 13 districts of Western Ghats of Maharashtra, viz.: Thane, Satara, Sangli, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Nandurbar, Palghar, Sindhudurg, Dhule, Pune, Kolhapur, Nasik, and Ahmednagar.Also, specimens lying in unidentified collections of the Western Regional Centre, Zoological Survey of India, Pune were studied.Detailed survey localities are mentioned under material examined and shown in Fig. 1.The beetles were collected using light traps and by handpicking from the dung present in the field.The light traps were operated from 19:00 hrs to 24:00 hrs and were installed at the collection sites for two nights in each survey locality.The specimens were killed using ethyl acetate vapors and preserved dry.The  Distribution: India (Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh).
A total of 50 species represented by 25 genera, 17 tribes, seven subfamilies belonging to Hybosoridae, Geotrupidae and Scarabaeidae were documented from the surveyed areas.As shown in Fig. 2, among the studied specimens the subfamily Scarabaeinae emerged as the dominant subfamily with 22 species followed by Melolonthinae (8 species), Rutelinae (8 species), Cetoninae (6 species), Dynastinae (4 species), and Hybosorinae and Geotrupidae with one species each.
Among the phytophagous group, Anomala presenting six species followed by Holotrichia (3 species), Ceonochilus (3 species), Gametis, Rhinyptia, Oryctes, Phllognathus, Xylotrupes, Eophileurus, Anatona, Chiloloba, Schizonycha and Leucopholis representing one species each were recorded.The dominance of Anomala and Holotrichia and other phytophagus scarab may be due to cropping pattern as these are mainly associated with sugarcane, potato, groundnut, jowar and maize.The species predominance is directly correlated with the cropping pattern of that area and season.Similar results were also found by Sreedevi et. al. (2017) who reported the dominant species Holotrichia nagpurensis, H. consanguinea, H. serrata, A. dimidiata and Lepidiota mansueta (Burmeister) in Uttar Pradesh associated with sugarcane.
As mentioned earlier, dung beetles are important decomposers and involved in nutrient recycling.If they are extirpated, the Earth would pile up with manure and dung everywhere.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.The survey localities from the study area.