The Larval Inhabitants of Cow Pats

Laurence, B. R.

doi:10.2307/1982

Cited by 99 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…The effects of such invertebrate food reduction would be expected to be especially severe if it occurs at critical times for the vertebrates, such as during the breeding season or when the young animals have to forage and feed for themselves. This concerns many birds [9,62,80,105], a number of species of bats which feed on Aphodius beetles and the yellow dung fly Scathophaga stercoraria adults [57,78,92], and terrestrial mammals such as hedgehogs, shrews and badgers, which feed on a wide range of invertebrates [79].…”

Section: Indirect Effects Of Antiparasitic Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Use of anthelmintics in herbivores and evaluation of risks for the non target fauna of pastures

2002

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-The overall purpose of this paper was to review the major and most recent literature relating the effects of anthelmintics on dung breeding invertebrates and dung degradation. Faecal residues or metabolites of drugs belonging to the benzimidazole and levamisole/morantel groups are relatively harmless to dung fauna, on the contrary to other anthelmintics such as coumaphos, dichlorvos, phenothiazine, piperazine, synthetic pyrethroids, and most macrocyclic lactones which have been shown to be highly toxic for dung beetles (abamectin, ivermectin, eprinomectin, doramectin), among which moxidectin was the less toxic for dung beetles. To date, the detrimental impact upon non-target organisms has been considered acceptable in eradicating the parasites because of their economic importance to commercial livestock production. The consequences of routine treatments are discussed with consideration of the long-term consequences for cow pat fauna and sustainable pastureland ecology.anthelmintic / residue / dung beetle / Diptera / sustainable parasite control Résumé -Usage des anthelminthiques en élevage et évaluation des risques pour la faune non cible du pâturage. Cet article de synthèse passe en revue les travaux de la littérature les plus récents concernant les effets secondaires des principaux produits vétérinaires utilisés en routine sur la faune coprophage et sur la dégradation des excréments dans les pâturages. Les résidus (ou les métabolites) des groupes du benzimidazole et levamisole/morantel trouvés dans les excréments s'avèrent relativement peu toxiques pour la faune coprophage. Au contraire les anthelminthiques des groupes suivants s'avèrent hautement toxiques: coumaphos, dichlorvos, phénothiazine, pipérazine, pyréthroïdes de synthèse, et la plupart des lactones macrocycliques (abamectine, ivermectine, éprinomectine, doramectine), la moxidectine étant la moins toxique pour la faune coprophage. Jusqu'à présent, cet impact négatif a été considéré comme acceptable par les éleveurs et firmes pharmaceutiques en regard de l'importance économique du contrôle et/ou l'éradication des parasites. Les conséquences des traitements de routine sont discutées en considérant que l'absence de dégradation des bouses constatée 547

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Section: Indirect Effects Of Antiparasitic Usementioning

confidence: 99%

Use of anthelmintics in herbivores and evaluation of risks for the non target fauna of pastures

2002

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“…Predatory larvae, for example, were estimated to have reduced the populations of coprophagous larvae by 51% [13] and, in artificial cow pats, there was a 96-98% lower emergence of Musca tempestiva (Diptera: Muscidae) from fully colonised, compared with uncolonised, isolated pats [11]. In the latter case, staphylinid predation was the thought to be the primary cause of mortality.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The alternative approach chosen was based upon the principle that the distribution of lipids in the consumer reflects that of its diet. Candidate compounds for isotopic comparison in such work, must be abundant in both dung and prey and must be capable of substantial 13 C-labelling, whereas candidate compounds for the alternative, compound profiling, approach must have widely different concentrations in dung and prey. 13 C-labelled fatty acids have been shown to be appropriate candidate compounds for isotopic studies [2].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Candidate compounds for isotopic comparison in such work, must be abundant in both dung and prey and must be capable of substantial 13 C-labelling, whereas candidate compounds for the alternative, compound profiling, approach must have widely different concentrations in dung and prey. 13 C-labelled fatty acids have been shown to be appropriate candidate compounds for isotopic studies [2]. The abundance profiling approach need not have used the same compound class, but fatty acids are recognised for their characteristic profiles in insects [4,7,26] and dung [5].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, owing to their large, sluggish appearance and the classically coprophagous features of their buccopharyngeal armature, Séguy [20] and Portchinsky [19] suggested that that the larvae are purely coprophagous, while Hammer [8] and Keilin & Tate [10] concluded that any predation may only be opportunistic. They are certainly capable of complete development in fresh dung without potential mesofaunal prey [8,13]. This study, therefore, aimed to examine the feeding behaviour of M. meridiana, through the use of high 13 C-enrichment labelling of fatty acid fractions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Measurement of predatory behaviour in cow dung-colonising insect larvae, using compound-specific 13C-tracing of dietary fatty acids

2011

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Studies of the trophic interactions between organisms in opaque environments where direct observation can be difficult, such as soil or leaf litter, often require the use of indirect inferential approaches. Here, the use of compound-specific 13 C-tracing of dietary biomarker fatty acids is evaluated as a method for studying predation by larvae of the dung-breeding fly, Mesembrina meridiana (Diptera: Muscidae); the technique was used to differentiate dung from high-enrichment 13 C-labelled prey in their gut contents. Potential prey, 13 C-labelled larvae of the dungbreeding fly, Neomyia cornicina (Diptera: Muscidae), were placed into unlabelled dung microcosms in the laboratory. A single 7-day-old M. meridiana larva was allowed to feed in each microcosm for 8 h. The magnitude of increases in the δ 13 C values of fatty acids (i14:0, 14:0, i15:0, a15:0, 15:0, 16:0 and 18:0) in the gut contents, relative to those of M. meridiana deprived of prey, demonstrated the predation of N. cornicina larvae which were estimated to have constituted at least 35% of the average dietary wet mass of these M. meridiana larvae. The tracing of specific labelled compounds increased confidence in dietary assessment and helped to avoid systematic errors associated with compound-dependent efficiency of assimilation in the gut. The results demonstrate the potential value of this method in helping to elucidate trophic interactions in predator-prey systems within opaque environments. The precision of the quantitative dietary estimation that arose from these isotopic data was superior to that generated using fatty acid distributional data, a widely used and evidentially independent line of evidence.

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