No evidence that brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) forage on dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in New Zealand

Figures & data

Figure 1 Mexican dung beetle (Copris incertus), male. Montage Image courtesy of Birgit Rhode, NZAC, Landcare Research, 2012.

Table 1 Findings of the Mexican dung beetle (Copris incertus) survey at three sites in Maunu, Whangarei.

Site 1				Site 2			Site 3				Site 3 continued
cowpat	soil extrusions	tunnels	dung beetles	cowpat	soil extrusions	dung beetles	cowpat	soil extrusions	tunnels	dung beetles	cowpat	soil extrusions	tunnels	dung beetles
1	0	0	0	1	shredded	14	1	4	5	5	51	2	2	0
2	0	6	1	2	shredded	10	2	4	4	0	52	1	1	0
3	0	5	1	3	shredded	7	3	3	3	0	53	4	5	0
4	0	3	0	4	shredded	1	4	2	2	1	54	1	1	1
5	0	10	1	5	shredded	1	5	1	4	3	55	4	4	0
6	0	0	0	6	shredded	2	6	4	6	0	56	0	0	1
7	0	0	0	7	shredded	9	7	2	6	0	57	1	1	1
8	0	0	8	8	shredded	0	8	5	5	0	58	0	2	1
9	0	8	0	9	1	0	9	2	3	0	59	0	0	1
10	0	0	0	10	shredded	0	10	1	2	0	60	4	9	3
11	0	2	1	11	shredded	0	11	2	2	0	61	4	4	3
12	0	0	0	12	shredded	0	12	4	4	0	62	3	3	1
13	0	3	3	13	1	0	13	4	4	0	63	7	9	2
14	0	2	2	14	shredded	0	14	4	5	0	64	7	8	1
15	1	3	3	15	shredded	0	15	7	10	0	65	3	4	2
16	0	3	3	16	shredded	2	16	4	7	0	66	5	5	4
17	0	5	4	17	shredded	0	17	4	2	1	67	6	15	6
18	0	2	2	18	shredded	0	18	1	1	1	68	5	12	3
19	0	10	20	19	shredded	0	19	3	8	1	69	shredded	4	1
20	0	0	0	20	shredded	0	20	5	5	2	70	3	7	2
21	0	0	0	21	shredded	0	21	4	4	0	71	2	3	3
22	0	4	3	22	shredded	0	22	0	4	2	72	4	5	3
23	1	1	2	23	shredded	0	23	0	0	2	73	6	8	0
24	1	3	5	24	shredded	0	24	5	6	0	74	5	6	1
25	0	0	0	25	shredded	0	25	4	8	0	75	0	0	3
26	0	1	1				26	4	10	0	76	4	5	0
27	0	0	1	Total	2	46	27	5	10	2	77	3	5	4
28	0	0	2				28	0	6	9	78	1	1	2
29	0	0	2				29	4	5	3	79	2	6	2
30	1	2	7				30	4	7	0	80	8	10	1
31	0	0	4				31	3	8	4	81	3	3	0
32	0	0	0				32	5	10	6	82	5	6	2
33	0	1	14				33	4	10	3
34	0	0	1				34	3	3	1	Total	270	438	159
35	0	2	4				35	6	7	0
36	0	0	0				36	7	8	0
37	0	2	13				37	5	6	4
38	0	0	0				38	4	5	4
39	0	5	11				39	3	4	1
40	0	6	15				40	4	4	2
41	0	0	0				41	1	2	11
42	0	0	3				42	2	3	7
43	0	0	0				43	shredded	15	4
44	0	0	0				44	shredded	20	14
45	0	0	1				45	3	4	0
46	0	0	0				46	3	4	7
47	0	0	0				47	7	8	2
48	0	0	0				48	2	2	1
49	0	5	3				49	6	10	0
							50	3	3	2
Total	4	94	141

Table 2 Gut contents of brushtail possums (Trichosurus vulpecula) trapped at Maunu, Whangarei, showing grass (%), Mexican and native dung beetles (DB), and other invertebrates.

Sample #	Grass%	Mexican DB	Native DB	Other invertebrates
1	20	0	0	2× stick insects (1× body: Clitarchus hookeri, 1× leg fragments: Clitarchus sp. or Acanthoxyla sp.), 1× ant (Pachycondyla sp. (native))
2	50	0	0	3× beetles (2× fungal feeding Scaphidiinae: Brachynopus latus; 1× weevil, Mandalotus sp.)
3	60	0	0	15× ants (Prolasius advenus (native))
4	0	0	0	1× ant (Prolasius advenus), 1× stick insect body fragments (Acanthoxyla sp.)
5	20	0	0	0
6	0	0	0	2× beetle fragments (Steel blue ladybird: Halmus chalybeus)
7	10	0	0	13× ants (Prolasius advenus)
8	15	0	0	1× moth larva (Noctuidae: Indet.)
9	5	0	0	0
10	0	0	0	1× stick insect leg fragments (Clitarchus sp. or Acanthoxyla sp.)
11	0	0	0	0
12	0	0	0	0
13	0	0	0	1× aphid nymph (Aphididae: Indet.)
14	50	0	0	1× fly (Hyberpygia varia)
15	10	0	0	0
16	0	0	0	0
17	0	0	0	1× ant (Pachycondyla sp.)
18	20	0	0	7× ants (Prolasius advenus), 2× gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae: Indet.)
19	0	0	0	0
20	0	0	0	0
21	20	0	0	1× stick insect leg fragments (Clitarchus sp. or Acanthoxyla sp.)
22	10	0	0	1× fly leg (Syrphidae: Eristalis sp.)
23	0	0	0	0
24	40	0	0	1× stick insect leg fragments (Clitarchus sp. or Acanthoxyla sp.)
25	0	0	0	1× stick insect body fragments (Acanthoxyla sp.), 1× weevil (Microcryptorhynchus sp.)
26	60	0	0	1× stick insect body fragments (Acanthoxyla sp.)
27	70	0	0	1× beetle fragments (Odontria sp.)
28	40	0	0	1× mite (Oribatidae: Indet.)
29	80	0	0	0
30	20	0	0	0