A CASE FOR THE INTRODUCTION OF ADDITIONAL DUNG-BURYING BEETLES (COLEOPTERA, SCARABAEIDAE) INTO NEW-ZEALAND

New Zealand has an impoverished dung-burying fauna which is unable to efficiently remove the large quantities of dung produced by introduced domestic livestock. It is estimated that dung from beef and dairy cat tle alone covers 745 ha of pasture each day and that up to 5% of pastu re is affected at any one time. The introduction of dung-burying beetl es which are active in the summer months would complement the recyclin g of nutrients by earthworms which are active in winter. Dung burial b y beetles is also known to reduce the number of flies breeding in dung . Cattle nuisance flies and sheep blowflies also use dung as a source of protein required for reproductive development. The activity of dung -burying beetles can reduce the number of internal parasites of livest ock on pasture by 80-90%. It is proposed that the introduction to New Zealand of dung-burying beetles from countries with similar climate an d soil types would reduce the contamination of pasture by excreta, enh ance nutrient cycling, and reduce fly and helminth-related animal heal th problems.