Diversity of the Endemic Madagascan Dung Beetles (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae): New Records from Six Protected Areas

Abstract

Dung beetles (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) are among the most cost-effective and informative biodiversity indicator groups, conveying rich information about the status of habitats and faunas of an area. In Madagascar, they are important elements in forest food chains and ecosystems where they originally evolved to decompose lemur excrements, but later many species shifted to utilize cattle dung and human feces. In the present contribution, we report the results of dung beetle sampling in six protected areas of northern and central Madagascar. In total, over 400 specimens of Scarabaeinae beetles belonging to three tribes, eight genera, and 26 species were collected. All species are endemic to the island and most of them belong to the endemic genus Helictopleurus d’Orbigny. Nanos neoelectrinus Montreuil and Viljanen, recently synonymized with N. humeralis Paulian, is revalidated based on the new material.