THE USE OF LEAF-CUTTER ANTS, ATTA-LAEVIGATA (SMITH) (HYMENOPTERA, FORMICIDAE), AS A SUBSTRATE FOR OVIPOSITION BY THE DUNG BEETLE CANTHON-VIRENS MANNERHEIM (COLEOPTERA, SCARABAEIDAE) IN CENTRAL BRAZIL

In the Cerrado region of Brazil, we observed dung beetles, Canthon vir ens Manner-heim, using leaf-cutter ants, Atta laevigata (Smith), as ov iposition sites. Aggressive encounters occurred whereby the smaller du ng beetles decapitated and then buried their much larger ant victims i n a specialized sequence of behaviors. Known densities of a few Cerrad o herbivorous mammals suggest that the availability of dung may be sim ilar to other neotropical sites. We propose that C. virens may be an o bligate, rather than facultative, predator of leaf-cutter ants.