Does the populating of Corsica by dung beetles result from interspecific competition?

The dung beetles include Scarabaeidae, Aphodiinae and Geotrupinae (Coleopte ra: Scarabaeoidea). These beetles constitute very well structured communiti es, under the control of a strong competition. Using the French dung beetle database, the faunas of Corsica and of the southern continental France wer e compared. The Corsican fauna is poorer than the continental one, with a l ow endemism rate, limited to the apterous species. Moreover, most of the sp ecies found in Corsica are generalist and/or very competitive.