Open AccessESTABLISHMENT AND SURVIVAL OF LARVAE OF ONITIS CAFFER BOHEMAN (COLEOPTERA: SCARABAEIDAE) IN ARTIFICIALLY MADE BROOD BALLS AND DUNG SLABS
Author(s) -
Edwards Penelope B.,
Aschenborn H. H.
Publication year - 1985
Publication title -
australian journal of entomology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1440-6055
pISSN - 1326-6756
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-6055.1985.tb00198.x
Subject(s) - biology , scarabaeidae , larva , hatching , brood , dung beetle , scarabaeinae , zoology , ecology
Methods of setting eggs and newly hatched larvae of Onitis caffer in hand‐made dung balls and in dung slabs were tested. Best survival of eggs and highest larval survival and establishment rates were achieved at 22 °C by (i) leaving eggs in natural broods for as long as possible before extracting them, (ii) discarding late hatching eggs (last 8%), (iii) incubating eggs in a grid with separate compartments for each egg, and (iv) setting larvae in either dung balls or slabs placed in soil, with larval chambers open to the air. Early larval survival in dung slabs was equal to the best obtained in individual dung balls (89%). Egg hatch rates and larval establishment rates were similar to those recorded in natural broods (82% hatch and 94–97% establishment).