Dung Beetle Books

The Natural History of

Dung Beetles of the Subfamily Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera, Scarabaeinae)

Authors: Gonzalo Halffter and Eric G. Matthews
Folia Entomologica Mexicana
Num. 12-14. Octubre de 1966
Mexico, D.F.

Fig. 2 (top) Female Phanaeus mexicanus rolling a piece of horse dung. Head is placed under edge of dung.

Fig. 3 (bottom) Beetle has lifted edge of piece of dung with head and is pushing it over with forelegs.

This book is a compilation of all available knowledge of comparative ecology and comparative ethology of the subfamily Scarabaeinae up to 1966. It deals with topics such as food relationships, ecological niches, feeding behavior, and nidification (nesting) behavior. Although this book may be hard to obtain, it is a must read for beginning dung beetle biologists.

The Nesting Behavior of Dung Beetles (Scarabaeinae)
An Ecological and Evolutive Approach

Authors: Gonzalo Halffter and W.D. Edmonds

Instituto de Ecologia

Mexico, D.F.

Fig. 31. Rolling in Sisyphus spinipes.

This book was originally intended to update those portions of "Natural History" which concerned nesting behavior by reviewing observations published since 1966 and by reporting new results of their own cooperative research. However, new information combined with old led to the discussion of new ideas, interpretations and conclusions. Chapters One through Four deal with the evolution of the subfamily Scarabaeinae. Chapter Five gives information about nest construction and architecture in burrowing (tunneling) Scarabaeinae. Chapters Six and Seven discuss other sexual relationships and the ovary and nesting behavior. Including sexual cooperation and ovarian function during nesting.

Dung Beetle Ecology

Editors: Ilkka Hanski and Yves Cambefort
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey
Copyright 1991

~ $80.00

Dung Beetle Ecology has been my all time favorite book. The editors did a great job summarizing our current knowledge about dung beetle ecology. This book is broken down into three parts: The first part consists of a general introduction to the ecology of insects using ephemeral resources in patchy habitats. It also outlines the evolution of dung-feeding beetles, and briefly describes their breeding biology and biogeography. The second part deals with regional dung beetle assemblages. The third part synthesizes chapters from part two into simplified patterns and working hypotheses about processes.