Dissertation Research: Sexual Selection and the Evolution ofHorns in the Dung Beetle Phanaeus Difformis (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae)

屎壳虫在回收各种动物粪便中的营养物质方面具有重要的生态学意义。粪便不仅是成虫的主要食物，也是成虫在地下洞穴中喂养后代的资源。粪粪清除减少了粪蝇等有害物种可利用的资源，从而降低了这些物种的种群密度。掩埋粪便还能促进牧草和其他牲畜和野生动物饲料的生长。在这个项目中，PI将研究一种土生土长的北美蜣螂的生殖生物学，这种蜣螂叫做Phanaeus diformis，它利用牛和其他大型哺乳动物的粪便。这项研究将有助于我们了解蜣螂在牧场生态中的作用。本研究的目的包括记录形态和行为变量如何在一系列生态条件下影响异形假单胞虫的生殖生物学。调查将包括对自然繁殖成虫的观察和野外对照实验。野外实验将考虑成年种群密度和性别比如何影响种群中不同个体的生殖潜力。

Dung beetles are ecologically important in recycling nutrients present in various types of animal feces. Dung not only makes up the bulk of the diet of the adults but is also the resource adults use to provision their young in underground burrows. Dung removal decreases resources available to pest species such as dung-breeding flies, thus lowering population densities of these species. Burial of dung also increases growth of grasses and other forage for livestock and wild animals. In this project, the PI's will study the reproductive biology of a native North American dung beetle, Phanaeus difformis, which utilizes feces of cattle and other large mammals. This research will contribute to our understanding of the role that dung beetles play in rangeland ecology. The goals of this research include documenting how morphological and behavioral variables influence the reproductive biology of P. difformis under a range of ecological conditions. Investgations will involve observations of naturally breeding adults and controlled field experiments. Field experiments will consider how adult population density and sex ratio influence the reproductive potential of different individuals in the population.