378:
42:
362:
ball is at the bottom of the tunnels, female oviposition occurs, in which she places an egg in the center of the dung ball; several brood balls can be formed in this way, after which all of them will be coated with soil to preserve their quality. Once all the eggs have been positioned in the chamber, the male and female pair construct a second tunnel which contains food for newly hatched beetles as well as those that remain below the soil in colder climates.
60:
415:, there is varying parental investment, with the females tending to invest more in their offspring than the males. However, it has been observed that females that exhibit higher parental investment through the entire breeding process will tend to choose males that are likely to invest more. During a breeding season, one male and one female will form a breeding pair and conduct all the processes necessary to produce brood balls, but female
452:
studies have shown that up to an optimal temperature, cold-blooded organisms can become more productive, potentially allowing them to dig through and transport dung more efficiently. Consequently, it is possible that behavioral plasticity in response to varying temperatures can produce more offspring that have a greater chance of survival, even if the offspring do end up being smaller than their typical size.
420:
to create the tunnel networks and feeding galleries under the dung pats long before the female is sexually mature, and selection has shown to favor males that help in the paracoprid activities and food positioning throughout the tunnel networks. Males will typically fight off other rivals at or around the burrows they have helped create because they can better defend females and their eggs there.
33:
341:. These parasites live within various animals and then are consumed by dung beetles. When consumed, the beetles start to consume approximately half as much dung as they did before. Individual infected beetles are less effective at interacting with their environments and also will end up moving less dung. They dig shorter tunnels and produce less offspring.
419:
are iteroparous, meaning they can undergo multiple reproductive events in a lifetime, and these can occur with multiple males. Even during one mating season, females will be willing to mate with multiple males, so males need to fight to maintain exclusive access. Males and females will work together
310:
and other
Phanaeus beetles exhibit complex paracoprid nesting, meaning they tunnel in order to create nests below piles of dung and build complex tunnels by which they can communicate and exchange food with nearby beetles. To do this, adults bury a large amount of fecal excrement and make many brood
432:
are able to inhabit such a wide range of habitats, research has been conducted to investigate whether their reproductive habits change according to environmental factors to maximize offspring growth and development, or whether they remain a consistent behavior across all members of the species. One
353:
work to make the tunnel network in which they will store dung and create brood balls where young can be incubated. To do this, they burrow below the pile of dung they have established and create a chamber; in doing so, they naturally sift the soil around their dung pats, allowing for redistribution
439:
has been observed altering its reproductive behavior based on temperature. Higher temperatures during development have shown to cause faster transitions between life cycle stages, smaller adult body sizes, and potentially, lower survival rates. Consequently, when they are in warmer climates,
361:
females perform what looks like a “butting” motion in order to push dung away from where it was originally placed. This behavior attracts males, who will work with the female to make the dung into a ball and roll it into the chamber through the tunnel system they construct together. Once the brood
277:
is member of the
Scarabaeinae sub-family, they are considered to be “true dung beetles” and feed exclusively on fecal excrement through all stages of their life cycle. While they do prefer to feed on dung from pasture animals, rainbow scarabs do sometimes feed on wild animal feces in more forestal
440:
females tend to produce more brood balls and bury them deeper to get the broods to cooler areas and have more surrounding soil to protect dung quality. This can come at a cost to brood ball size which, because they are made out of the dung from which offspring get sustenance, can affect offspring
369:
undergoes a larval stage followed by pupation before they reach their adult stage. The larvae and both the molting processes happen within the brood ball; it is only when these beetles reach their adult stage that they emerge from the dung in which their parents housed them. The time it takes for
451:
does. The most observable of these trade-offs is that brood balls are smaller as nesting depth increases to a certain extent. Additionally, although deeper nesting can protect offspring from high temperatures, it can cost parents time and energy, which can affect other fitness traits. However,
370:
these rainbow scarabs to complete these stages ranges between two and six months, with the entire lifespan of the beetle being less than a year. In colder areas, adults will remain in the tunnel networks below the frost line until temperatures increase, after which they will emerge. Because
444:. While there can be some consequences to these behaviors, findings have shown that this plastic adult behavior is adaptive and it can actually buffer developing offspring from temperature changes, which could otherwise adversely impact fitness of adult rainbow scarabs.
315:
also exhibits protective behaviors by protecting these brood balls with a cement-like layer of dung around the surface. The young beetles in brood balls will then feed off the dung until they reach maturity and can forage for food on their own.
290:
in their diet as a result of being able to occupy various habitats and soil types across seasons. Typically, however, these beetles do prefer clay soils, in contrast with other scarab beetles which may be more prevalent in sandy habitats.
297:
of all dung beetles have biting mouthparts to help consume the feces, but when dung beetles in the
Scarabaeidae family reach their adult stage, they develop specialized mouthparts in addition to the biting portions. Some of these include
404:, feeding and reproductive behaviors have a very close relationship. Both sexes of rainbow scarabs need to consume dung regularly in order to become sexually mature, but females especially need to have this particular diet so they can
433:
such factor is temperature, which has been known to impact insect development. However, reproductive behavior plasticity based on temperature differences can impact earlier life stage development, so this has been an area of focus.
282:” or produced by organisms that have very diverse diets. They tend to consume dung from omnivores such as pigs and cows and will sometimes select herbivore dung, but they are least attracted to dung produced by carnivorous animals.
256:
and a large horn on their heads while females have slightly less vibrant shells and lack horns. Females also have different numbers of segments on their abdomen than males. Additionally, the ends of male abdomens raise above the
524:
ZĂdek, J.; Edmonds, W.D. (2012). "Taxonomy of
Phanaeus revisited: Revised keys to and comments on species of the New World dung beetle genus Phanaeus MacLeay, 1819 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Phanaeini)".
384:
After adults emerge from the soil, they begin the search for a new mate, after which the tunneling process will begin anew. Research has shown that the contents of soil heavily dictate where
302:
and maxillary fine fringes which can filter liquid and semi-liquid portions of the dung while eating, and molars, which can finely grind down solid particles in dung suspensions.
1020:
265:
species, male rainbow scarabs can be observed in either a major morph with large horns and bodies, or a minor morph, with significantly reduced horn and body size.
245:
adults are hard-bodied beetles which range from approximately 11-22 millimeters (0.4-0.9 inches) in length. They are relatively bulky and oblong. These beetles are
278:
areas. Research has shown that rainbow scarabs have certain preferences when selecting feces to feed on; they are most attracted to excrement that is considered “
1059:
388:
choose to locate their dung pats and tunnel networks, especially because the sandy soils that most other scarab beetles prefer cause larval desiccation in
994:
1033:
1038:
1118:
854:"Experimental increases in temperature mean and variance alter reproductive behaviours in the dung beetle Phanaeus vindex"
968:
1113:
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666:
447:
Although not all dung beetles experience fitness trade-offs by engaging in these adaptive reproductive behaviors,
59:
377:
354:
of nutrients and loose soil which they use to fill the tunnels so they can protect brood balls in the chamber.
261:, however, in females, they do not. On top of this, the abdomen is distinctly colored in both sexes. Like most
595:
306:
also typically create nests around and within their food sources, but this behavior varies across species.
911:
973:
154:
622:
41:
949:
808:"Behavioral Ecology of Phanaeus Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae): Review and New Observations"
713:
678:
763:
1051:
714:"The Effect of a Nematode Parasite on Feeding and Dung-Burying Behavior of an Ecosystem Engineer"
230:
54:
667:"Temperature, metabolic rate, and constraints on locomotor performance in ectotherm vertebrates"
1025:
623:"The Natural History of Dung Beetles of The Sub-Family Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)"
328:
is often exposed to parasites that live within fecal matter. One of these common parasites are
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131:
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have such a varied distribution, most of them undergo the overwintering process under soil.
225:
191:
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807:
1072:
682:
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853:
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As a dung beetle exhibiting paracoprid behavior, or tunneling, both sexes of adult
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121:
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1007:
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Studies have demonstrated that among all dung beetles, but especially
1012:
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111:
101:
81:
905:
764:"Phanaeus Behavior: 2 Food Transportation and Bisexual Cooperation1"
762:
Halffter, Gonzalo; Halffter, Violeta; G., Irma Lopez (1974-04-01).
602:. University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences
594:
Paris, Thomson; Rohde, Barukh; College, Hunter; Kaufman, Phillip.
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294:
287:
224:
in the United States and it has a wide habitat tolerance. It may
909:
852:
Kirkpatrick, William H.; Sheldon, Kimberly S. (July 2022).
198:. It is found in eastern and central United States (
918:
627:Bulletin of the Entomological Society of America
806:Price, Dana L.; May, Michael L. (2009-04-15).
8:
324:Due to the nature of their food resources,
906:
596:"Rainbow scarab - Phanaeus vindex Macleay"
493:
491:
40:
31:
20:
885:
823:
665:Cano, J. M.; Nicieza, A. G. (June 2006).
357:When making the pear-shaped brood balls,
712:Boze, B. G. V.; Moore, J. (2014-07-01).
589:
587:
585:
583:
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311:balls where they can keep their young.
249:; the males can be identified by their
218:. It is the most widespread species of
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843:
801:
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797:
7:
757:
755:
660:
658:
656:
718:Integrative and Comparative Biology
190:), is a North American species of
14:
286:is afforded a very wide range of
691:10.1111/j.1365-2435.2006.01129.x
621:Cartwright, O. L. (1968-03-15).
58:
228:with the generally less common
1:
186:(like other members in its
1135:
160:
153:
55:Scientific classification
53:
48:
39:
30:
23:
825:10.21829/azm.2009.251621
768:Environmental Entomology
812:Acta ZoolĂłgica Mexicana
563:. Iowa State University
330:Physocephalus sexalatus
870:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0109
539:10.5281/zenodo.5182095
381:
639:10.1093/besa/14.1.83b
380:
1119:Coprophagous insects
557:Species Information"
683:2006FuEco..20..464C
780:10.1093/ee/3.2.341
730:10.1093/icb/icu017
671:Functional Ecology
600:Featured Creatures
555:Phanaeus difformis
474:- Rainbow Scarabs"
382:
365:Like all beetles,
247:sexually dimorphic
182:, also known as a
1114:Phanaeus (beetle)
1101:
1100:
1086:Open Tree of Life
912:Taxon identifiers
503:- Rainbow Scarab"
175:
174:
16:Species of beetle
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192:true dung beetle
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243:P. vindex
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214:) and northern
179:Phanaeus vindex
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164:Phanaeus vindex
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57:
25:Phanaeus vindex
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814:. New Series.
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774:(2): 341–345.
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724:(2): 177–183.
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677:(3): 464–470.
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533:(274): 1–108.
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269:Food resources
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194:in the family
184:rainbow scarab
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146:P. vindex
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527:Insecta Mundi
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170:MacLeay, 1819
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155:Binomial name
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604:. Retrieved
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565:. Retrieved
561:BugGuide.net
560:
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304:Dung beetles
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231:P. difformis
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196:Scarabaeidae
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122:Scarabaeidae
24:
18:
1047:NatureServe
1008:iNaturalist
944:Wikispecies
424:Development
238:Description
204:New England
1108:Categories
567:2018-01-25
505:. BugGuide
476:. BugGuide
456:References
300:mandibular
251:iridescent
112:Coleoptera
92:Arthropoda
878:1744-957X
834:2448-8445
788:1938-2936
738:1540-7063
699:0269-8463
647:0013-8754
633:(1): 83.
499:"Species
449:P. vindex
442:nutrition
437:P. vindex
430:P. vindex
417:P. vindex
413:P. vindex
402:P. vindex
390:P. vindex
386:P. vindex
372:P. vindex
367:P. vindex
359:P. vindex
351:P. vindex
326:P. vindex
320:Parasites
313:P. vindex
308:P. vindex
284:P. vindex
275:P. vindex
226:hybridize
140:Species:
78:Kingdom:
72:Eukaryota
1052:2.808572
1026:10371745
982:BugGuide
958:BioLib:
935:Q7180423
929:Wikidata
896:35857889
746:24737785
606:19 April
472:Phanaeus
428:Because
406:oviposit
339:parasite
335:nematode
280:fragrant
273:Because
263:Phanaeus
221:Phanaeus
133:Phanaeus
118:Family:
88:Phylum:
82:Animalia
68:Domain:
1000:1087542
887:9256084
679:Bibcode
509:27 June
480:27 June
470:"Genus
212:Wyoming
208:Arizona
200:Florida
128:Genus:
108:Order:
102:Insecta
98:Class:
1078:233126
1065:506474
1039:927661
974:199061
961:666095
894:
884:
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832:
786:
744:
736:
697:
645:
411:Among
396:Mating
295:Larvae
259:elytra
254:elytra
216:Mexico
49:males
1091:77516
1021:IRMNG
1013:83929
864:(7).
818:(1).
288:feces
188:genus
1060:NCBI
1034:ITIS
995:GBIF
987:5442
969:BOLD
892:PMID
874:ISSN
830:ISSN
784:ISSN
742:PMID
734:ISSN
695:ISSN
643:ISSN
608:2022
531:2012
511:2023
482:2023
332:, a
210:and
202:and
882:PMC
866:doi
820:doi
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687:doi
635:doi
535:doi
206:to
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