Summer dung beetle activity in the Goulburn-Broken

From: bertram lobert Date:  03/03/2009

A few notes about this and previous years. ---------------- Last summer (07/08), dung beetle activity in the Goulburn-Broken Catchment (GBC) was very patchy; generally noticeable but not remarkable. It chugged along with O.taurus doing most of the work and E.fulvus and O.aygulus chipping in with a good effort in some districts. E.pallipes was turning up in a few places, but in pretty low numbers, as seems to be usual (J. Feehan pers.comm.2009). This summer (08/09) saw a normal build up in early summer. Then, in mid January, there must have been a well-synchronized emergence of O.taurus. Many farmers, and from different districts, noticed pads being rapidly colonized (mainly by O.taurus), then shredded. This continued for some days, perhaps a week or two (depending on district). The lack of bushflies was noticed by many. As with Jan-Feb 2006, when O.taurus (& E.fulvus) swarmed synchronously over at least half the GBC, the lack of flies this year remained a talking point for quite a while. By the end of Feb 09, the frenzy had abated and activity levels reduced. So, summer 08/09 was a repeat, if smaller version, of 05/06. November and December were relatively wet here in the north- east/north central, though it dried out and warmed up quickly . Some districts got a good drop of rain in mid Jan (12-25 mm). The height of dung beetle activity in Jan-Feb coincided with the heatwave (18 Jan to 7 Feb) and tapered off after that (maybe just a coincidence). ------------- Last year I commented that O.aygulus seemed to be starting to build up large numbers and spread south through the GBC. Observations this year confirm those thoughts. Five years ago I had never seen an O.aygulus in the southern part of the GBC. Last year I was wrapped each time i found one. This summer, I'm regularly finding O.aygulus in places that it was absent from five, even three, years ago. Observations by local farmers backs this up: most are familiar with O.taurus and E.fulvus (by sight), but the large, impressive-looking O.aygulus is new (and seeing it always makes them happy!). ------------------- I've found E.pallipes at a few more sites this year, so it too may be expanding (though this is harder to demonstrate, as they occur in such low numbers). This species looks very similar to E.fulvus, so it's hardly noticed by most farmers. How's it going in your district? [I hope the jpeg link works]