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The volatile organic compounds of introduced and native dung and carrion and their role in dung beetle foraging behaviour
Author(s) -
STAVERT JAMIE R.,
DRAYTON BRADLEY A.,
BEGGS JACQUELINE R.,
GASKETT ANNE C.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
ecological entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.865
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1365-2311
pISSN - 0307-6946
DOI - 10.1111/een.12133
Subject(s) - carrion , dung beetle , foraging , biology , scarabaeinae , ecology , zoology , scarabaeidae
1. The decomposition of biological material produces a plethora of volatile organic compounds ( VOC s), which are implicated in the foraging behaviour of coprophagous and necrophagous insects. Dung beetles ( C oleoptera: S carabaeidae: S carabaeinae) have an acute olfactory system used to locate food resources. Accordingly, identification of food resource VOC s potentially used in food location is integral to understanding dung beetle foraging ecology. 2. In this study, volatile emissions from dung and carrion of native and introduced animals in N ew Z ealand were analysed using solid‐phase microextraction ( SPME ) and gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry ( GC‐MS ). Volatile profiles were compared via principal component analyses ( PCA s) and cluster solutions based on attractiveness using canonical discriminant analysis ( CDA ). 3. A total of 115 compounds were detected from 21 food types. Statistical analyses showed that dung and carrion volatile profiles clustered according to attractiveness to the dung beetle Saphobius edwardsi , and that different dung types formed distinct clusters and grouped separately from carrion. 4. This study suggests that volatile profiles emitted by food resources used by dung beetles are complex, producing distinct odours, which potentially mediate foraging decisions.