Cattle dung accumulation presents problems of pasture fouling, nutrien
t loss, intestinal parasitosis, and pest fly development. These proble
ms have been confronted, with variable success, with the introduction
of coprophagous scarabs (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). This work reports
the results of field collections and laboratory culture of immature an
d adult dung scarabs. We compared several treatments of eggs and larva
e in search of good methods for rearing scarabs in aseptic conditions.
We collected 13 abundant species from northern and central Argentina.
We obtained approximate to 4,500 eggs, some of which we sent to quara
ntine facilities in the United States, and others which we reared in o
ur laboratory with 5 different techniques. Five common and widespread
species, Ontherus sulcator (F.), Gromphas lacordairet Brulle, Dichotom
ius semiaeneus (Germar), Sulcophanaeus menelas (Castelnau), and Bolbit
es onitoides Harold, had the highest oviposition rates and were also t
he easiest to rear. Two methods, freeze-dried and gamma sterilized bro
od masses and balls, provided the best results (i.e., percentage of be
etles completing development). As a rule, the species with short larva
l development time and wide distributions were easier to rear.