Journal of Threatened Taxa

OPEN ACCESS The Journal of Threatened Taxa is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use of artcles in any medium, reproducton, and distributon by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publicaton.

Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Short Communication Description of life stages of dung beetle Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with notes on nesting and biology

Suvarna S. Khadakkar, Ashish D. Tiple & Arun M. Khurad

26 December 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 15 | Pages: 12990–12994 10.11609/jot.3935.10.15.12990-12994

For Focus, Scope, Aims, Policies and Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-0 For Artcle Submission Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-2 For reprints contact

Publisher & Host Partners Member

Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2018 | 10(15): 12990–12994

Description of life stages of dung beetle Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera:

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with notes on nesting and biology Short Communication Short ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Suvarna S. Khadakkar 1 , Ashish D. Tiple 2 & Arun M. Khurad 3

OPEN ACCESS 1,3 Centre for Sericulture and Biological Pest Management Research (CSBR), RTM Nagpur University, North Ambazari Road, Nagpur, Maharashtra 440022, India 2 Department of Zoology, Vidyabhart College, Seloo, Wardha, Maharashtra 442104, India 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected]

Abstract: Immature stages of Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius) are forage by clearing excrement (Arrow 1931). Adult males described for the frst tme along with notes on nidifcaton and biology. of S. rhadamistus are atractve owing to the coloraton The larvae difer from other Scarabaeinae species in the structure of raster on tenth sternum with two irregular bunches of serratons and structure of pronotum. ventrally one on either half. Pupae with pronotum transverse having Much of the literature available relatng to scarab rounded margins resemble adults, and consist of four lateral, single caudal and single pteronotal support projecton. Adult males and beetles are on adult taxonomy. Informaton regarding females difer in coloraton, structure of pronotum, presence of spine their immature forms and nest-building behaviour like process on mesosternum and, in the structure of male and female is defcient (Ritcher 1966; Veeresh 1980; Sreedevi & genitalia. Tyagi 2014). Studies on natural history of dung beetles Keywords: Descripton, immatures, nestng, scarab beetle, Scaptodera of the subfamily Scarabaeinae lack the informaton rhadamistus. on S. rhadamistus (Halfer & Mathews 1966). The objectve of this study is to present an account of larval morphology and nest-building behavior of S. Beetles belonging to family Scarabaeidae are rhadamistus, a commonly found scarab in central Indian commonly called as ‘Scarabs’ and their larvae are known region, based on a study conducted in and around as white grubs. Arrow (1931) provided detailed account Nagpur-Wardha forest areas. of Indian Scarabaeidae. The monotypic Scaptodera Species diagnosis: In life, adults are yellowish- rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775), was previously cited as orange with metallic green colored patches present on Liatongus (Paraliatongus) Reiter under tribe Onitcellini dorsal and lateral regions, elongate, oval; 13–15 mm in of subfamily Scarabaeinae (Hanski & Cambefort 1991; length and 6–8 mm in width. Males have a prominent Philips 2016). Larvae of diferent stages and adults pronotum with elevated margins forming deep cavity at

DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3935.10.15.12990-12994 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3C6C9BAF-F36F-493E-A2F6-FC68979D5426

Editor: B.K. Agarwala, Tripura University, West Tripura, India. Date of publicaton: 26 December 2018 (online & print)

Manuscript details: Ms # 3935 | Received 02 December 2017 | Final received 29 October 2018 | Finally accepted 05 December 2018

Citaton: Khadakkar, S.S., A.D. Tiple & A.M. Khurad (2018). Descripton of life stages of dung beetle Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Scarabaei- dae: Scarabaeinae) with notes on nestng and biology. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(15): 12990–12994; htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3935.10.15.12990-12994

Copyright: © Khadakkar et al. 2018. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this artcle in any medium, reproducton and distributon by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publicaton.

Funding: None.

Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests.

Acknowledgements: We are thankful to Dr. M. M. Rai, Cordinator and Dr. M. K. Rathod, Scientst, Centre for Sericulture and Biological Pest Management Research, Nagpur for providing necessary facilites to conduct the following studies and encouragement. The authors are also thankful to State Biodiversity Board, Maharashtra for providing permission to collect scarab beetles. First author acknowledges the help of Dr Sandhya Kranthi, Head of Plant Protecton division, and Dr. Vishlesh Nagrare, Principle Scientst, Central Insttute for Coton Research, Nagpur, MS forLOGOs permitng use of Binoculor for morphometric studies.

12990 Life stages of Scaptodera rhadamistus Khadakkar et al. middle, anteriorly forming a short process that refexes mm); average maximum width in the middle 2.3 ± 0.11 backwards distnguishing this species from other species mm (n = 10, range 2.3–2.5 mm); one egg is laid per of the same genus. Males and females difer in size and brood ball, the egg is held vertcally and atached to the structure of pronotum, and in structure of spine-like substratum at the basal end with apical end bearing a process on mesosternum. Females are smaller, with small hump (Image 3). simple pronotum. B. Larva (III Instar): Larvae translucent in The species is natve to Oriental region (India, Laos, appearance; body covered with very fne setae; humped Sri Lanka, and Thailand) (Schoolmeesters 2017). In in the middle giving a ‘V’ shaped appearance to the body; India, the species occurs in the states of Gujarat, Madhya average length 19 ± 0.20 mm (n = 5, range 18.8–19.3 mm), Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu (Chandra & average width at abdominal hump 7 ± 0.15 mm (n = 5, Ahirwar 2005; Chandra et al. 2011; Mital & Jain 2015). range 6.8– 7.2 mm) (Image 4). Clypeus wider than long, rectangular, lateral margins straight, posterior margin Materials and Methods bilobed; irregular row of seven to nine setae in middle; Adults and brood balls of S. rhadamistus from cranium surface smooth; frons with one seta each at open grazing felds of Kavdas Village and nearby areas anterior angle to the dorsal surface of head, three to of Wardha District, Maharashtra were collected. This four anterior frontal setae on each side, posterior frontal region lies on the periphery of Bor Wildlife Sanctuary. setae absent; remaining cranial surface with two para- Field-collected brood balls were maintained in the ocellar setae, and with a row of eight dorso-epicranial laboratory at temperature and relatve humidity of setae (Image 5); antennae four segmented each; 270C ± 20C and 65–75 %, respectvely (Hayes 1929). labrum symmetrical, trilobed, broadly oval; maxillary Morphology was described from fve specimens, each stridulatory area with a row of 8–10 teeth; epipharynx of III Instar larvae, pupae, and adult males and females. chaetoparie each with 9–11 setae (Image 7); mandibles Larvae were kept in boiling water for about three stout, with single median seta, incisor lobes with three minutes, followed by cooling, and preservaton in 70% teeth on lef mandible and two on right mandible (Image alcohol or glycerol to prevent shrinking (Ritcher 1966). 8). Three pairs of thoracic legs, each two segmented, Leica S8APO stereoscopic microscope was used to study with 10–12 fne setae, claws absent (Image 9). Raster on the morphological characters, for photography, and 10th sternum with two irregular bunches of serratons for morphometry. Terminology of Edmonds & Hafer ventrally one on either half distnct. (1978) was followed. Adult specimens were washed in C. Pupa: Pupa exarate; pronotum transverse with soap water to clear dirt, rinsed in clear water, air-dried to rounded margins resembling adults; four thumb like remove the moisture, oven-dried for about two hours, tergal support projectons, one per segment present labeled, and studied. Arrow (1931) was followed for laterally on abdominal segments three to six (Image 10). morphological characterizaton. Pronotal support projecton absent. One pteronotal Male genitalia were dissected out from the adults support projecton present. Caudal projecton callus-like under stereoscopic microscope. Individual male (Image 11). genitalia was further boiled in 10% KOH soluton, D. Adult: Male - body yellowish-orange, with washed in water, treated with glacial acetc acid for metallic green patches; elongate, oval; length 14–15 two to three minutes, and rinsed in distlled water. The mm with an average of 14.46 ± 0.4 mm, width 7 to 8 dissected genitalia were stored in 1ml eppendorf flled mm with an average of 7.52 ± 0.3 mm (Image 12); with glycerol for future reference. head semicircular, elevated area between eyes, clypeus metallic green, lateral margins blackish; antenna eight Results segmented; pronotum with elevated margins forming Brood Balls deep cavity at middle, anteriorly forming a short A pair of adults construct nest in cow dung pats with process that refexes backwards, laterally blunt and an average diameter of 25–30 cm, and 5-10 cm thick. angular downward, with circular black spots (Image Each nest contains 3–7 brood balls per brood chamber 13); scutellum very small, fnely punctuated; a large with an average size of 4.7±1.41 cm and usually guarded spine-like process with broad base and rounded on by females. Each brood ball has a diameter of 18.9±0.74 sides present on meso-sternum (Image 14); elytra mm (n = 20, range 18– 20 mm) (Images 1 & 2). striate with a broad black central median suture and a A. Eggs: Lemon yellow when freshly laid, oblong, central dark spot shared by both sides of elytra, with average length 4.5 ± 0.1 mm (n = 10, range 4.4 to 4.6 one ventral spherical dark spot and two oval median

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2018 | 10(15): 12990–12994 12991 Life stages of Scaptodera rhadamistus Khadakkar et al.

6 5

1 2

Images 1–4. Brood balls of Scaptodera rhadamistus. 1 - hatched brood balls; 2 - unhatched brood balls; 3 - egg; 4 - IIIrd instar larva. (Scale 1 & 2 = 1cm; 3 & 4 = 1mm). © Suvarna S Khadakkar 9

Images 5–9. Head and mouth parts of IIIrd instar larva of Scaptodera dark spots present transversally; femora of fore-, mid- rhadamistus. 5 - cranium; 6 - maxilla; 7 - epiphrynx; 8 - mandibles; 9 - prothoracic and hind legs orange; fore-tbia setose, tridentate, with leg (Scale 5 & 9 = 1mm; 6 & 8 = 0.5mm). © Suvarna S Khadakkar elongate tooth; tbia, tarsi and claws of fore-, mid- and hind legs brownish-black; abdominal sclerites metallic greenish-black, pygidium dark, with fne, evenly spread like process, slender compared with males with broad punctuatons. base, present on meso-sternum (Image 18); elytra with Male genitalia: It consists of parameres and a broad black central median suture and a dark spot phallobase. Phallobase is broad and curved at the shared by both sides of elytra at the middle; each half apical end, and about 2.5 tmes the length of parameres. of elytra with one ventral spherical dark spot and two Parameres bend at the juncton of phallobase and oval median dark spots present transversally; abdominal parameres (Image 15). sclerites metallic greenish-black; femora of fore-, mid- Specimens examined: Col/47/M, 04.iv.2017, 03 and hind legs orange; tbia, tarsi and claws of fore-, mid- ex., Kavdas, Hingna, Nagpur, Maharashtra, Suvarna and hind legs brownish-black; pygidium dark; otherwise Khadakkar (locaton: 21.060N & 78.860E, elevaton: similar to males. 310m); Col/47/M/(a), 17.iii.2017, 01 ex., Seloo, Wardha, Specimens examined: Col/47/F, 17.iii.2017, 03 Maharashtra, Suvarna Khadakkar (locaton: 20.830N & ex., Kavdas, Hingna, Nagpur Maharashtra, Suvarna 78.700E, elevaton: 265m); Col/47/M/(b), 10.ii.2017, 01 Khadakkar (locaton: 21.060N & 78.860E, elevaton: ex., Zilpi, Hingna, Nagpur, Suvarna Khadakkar (locaton: 310m); Col/47/F/(a), 17.iii.2017, 01 ex., Seloo, Wardha, 21.060N & 78.860E, elevaton: 366m) Maharashtra, Suvarna Khadakkar (locaton: 20.830N & Female - body yellowish-orange, oval; head: 78.700E, elevaton: 265m); Col/47/F/(b), 10.ii.2017, 01 clypeus dark metallic green, black on margins; length, ex., Zilpi, Hingna, Nagpur, Suvarna Khadakkar (locaton: 13–14 mm; width, 6–7 mm (Image 16); antenna eight 21.060N & 78.860E, elevaton: 366m). segmented; head semicircular; pronotum (Image 17) yellowish-orange with irregular central metallic green Behaviour of larvae patch, wider than long, narrowed towards head and Brood balls of smaller diameter and dried from broader towards base, with single dark metallic green outside contained malformed and/or dead larvae spots laterally, without any process, bare, with lateral whereas those moist from outside contained healthy margins rounded than angular; with a large spine- larvae and eggs. When a hole is made in moist brood

12992 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2018 | 10(15): 12990–12994 Life stages of Scaptodera rhadamistus Khadakkar et al.

10 11 Discussion Fully grown III instar larvae of S. rhadamistus can be characterized by the presence of a prominent hump in the middle of body, two segmented legs, and raster on 10th sternum with two irregular bunches of serratons ventrally one on either half distnct from ovate felds of stout setae. Pupal support projectons present in scarabaeinae pupae play a major role in taxonomic Images 10–11. Pupa of Scaptodera rhadamistus. 10 - lateral tergal projectons on segments (3-6); 11 - caudal projecton studies. Four thumb-like tergal support projectons, one (Scale = 1mm). © Suvarna S Khadakkar per segment laterally on abdominal segments three to six, one pteronotal support projecton, callus like caudal projecton, and absence of pronotal support projecton ball with the help of a needle, the larva present inside are other prominent characters of S. rhadamistus. eat the dung present in ball and seal the hole with the S. rhadamistus build nests in large undisturbed excrement. Larvae were unable to fll the holes when dung pats. Brood count of 3–7 brood balls at a tme, the punctures were bigger. Centpedes were found to per pair of adults of S. rhadamistus is considered less occupy the brood balls afer the adult emergence. in comparison to other scarabs. Investment of energy in parental care may be a reason for smaller brood. Brood balls as well as females guarding the brood balls signifes the importance of parental care in this species. Diameter of the brood balls as well as the moisture

12 13

Images 12–15. Scaptodera rhadamistus (male) 12 - dorsal view; 13 - lateral view; 14 - large posterior process; 15 - aedegus with line (Scale = 1mm). © Suvarna S Khadakkar

Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2018 | 10(15): 12990–12994 12993 Life stages of Scaptodera rhadamistus Khadakkar et al.

16 17

Images 16–18. Scaptodera rhadamistus (female) 16 - dorsal view; 17 - pronotum; 18 - large posterior process on mesosternum (Scale = 1mm). © Suvarna S Khadakkar

content plays important role in the development of S. Hayes, W.P. (1929). Morphology, Taxonomy and Biology of larval rhadamistus. These aspects of life history are important Scarabaeoidea. Illinois Biological Monographs. Vol. XII, No. 2. University of Illinois, Illinois, 166pp. for conservaton of the species. Mital, I.C. & R.A. Jain (2015). checklist of Indian dung beetles (Coleoptera : Scarabaeidae). Indian journal of Entomology 77: 383– 404. References Philips, T.K. (2016). Phylogeny of the Onitcellini and Onthophagini dung beetles (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) from morphological Arrow, G.J. (1931). Fauna of Britsh India Coleoptera, Lamellicornia evidence. Zookeys 579: 9–57. Part III (Coprinae). Taylor and Francis, London, 374pp. Ritcher, P.O. (1966). White Grubs and Their Allies. Oregon State Chandra, K. & S.C. Ahirwar (2005). Scarabaeid beetles of Bandhavgarh University Press, No. 4, 220pp. Natonal Park, Madhya Pradesh. Zoos’ Print Journal 20: 1961–1964. Schoolmeesters, P. (2017). Catalogue of life. Available from: htp:// Chandra, K., S. Khan, D. Gupta & S.P. Singh (2011). Additonal records www.catalogueofife.org/col/details/species/id/4edb5905b3181bb of scarab fauna (Coleoptera:Scarabaeidae) of Pachmarhi Biosphere 4df7c9c8ccc049ee1. Downloaded on 27 March 2017. Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India. Natonal Journal of Life Sciences Sreedevi, K. & S. Tyagi (2014). Diagnostcs in larvae of white grubs 8: 65–68. (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera) - important characters. Indian Journal of Edmonds, W.D. & G. Halfer (1978). Taxonomic review of immature Entomology 76(2) 169–172. dung beetles of the subfamily Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Veeresh, G.K. (1980). Larval taxonomy of white grubs, with special Scarabaeidae). Systematc Entomology 3: 307–331. reference to Melolonthine beetles. Final Report of ICAR Ad-hoc Halfer, G. & E.G. Mathews (1966). The natural history of dung Project, 16–18pp. beetles of the subfamily Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Folia Entomológica Mexicana 12-14: 1–312. Hanski, I. & Y. Cambefort (1991). Dung Beetle Ecology. Princeton University Press, Princeton, xiii+481pp. Threatened Taxa

12994 Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2018 | 10(15): 12990–12994

ISSN 0974-7907 (Online); ISSN 0974-7893 (Print)

December 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 15 | Pages: 12907–13046 Date of Publicaton: 26 December 2018 (Online & Print) www.threatenedtaxa.org DOI: 10.11609/jot.2018.10.15.12907-13046

Artcles Contributon to the Macromycetes of West Bengal, India: 28–33 -- Rituparna Saha, Arun Kumar Duta, Soumitra Paloi, Anirban Roy & Dietary preference and feeding paterns of the urban Rhesus Macaque Krishnendu Acharya, Pp. 13006–13013 Macaca mulata (Mammalia: Primates: Cercopithecidae) in Asola-Bhat Wildlife Sanctuary in India -- Ishita Ganguly & Netrapal Singh Chauhan, Pp. 12907–12915 Notes

Postembryonic development of the Tri-spine Horseshoe Crab The identfcaton of Takin Budorcas taxicolor (Mammalia: Bovidae) through Tachypleus tridentatus (Merostomata: Xiphosura) in a nursery habitat in the dorsal guard hair Philippines -- Manokaran Kamalakannan, Pp. 13014–13016 -- Dorkas Kaiser & Sabine Schoppe, Pp. 12916–12932 Photographic evidence of Striped Hyena Hyaena hyaena (Mammalia: Carnivora: Hyaenidae) in Ramnagar forest division, Utarakhand, India Communicatons -- Vipul Maurya, Jai Pratap Singh, Kahkashan Naseem, Surender Mehra, Parag M. Dhakate, Neha Verma & A.G. Ansari, Pp. 13017–13019 Copulatory behavior of the Jaguar Panthera onca (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) Range extension of the Least Leaf-nosed Bat Hipposideros cineraceus -- Pedro Nacib Jorge-Neto, Cristane Schilbach Pizzuto, Gediendson Ribeiro de Blyth, 1853 (Mammalia: Chiroptera: Hipposideridae): to central India Araujo, Thyara de Deco-Souza, Leanes Cruz da Silva, Jorge Aparecido Salomão Jr. -- M. Kamalakannan, C. Venkatraman, Tauseef Hamid Dar & Kailash Chandra, & Hernan Baldassare, Pp. 12933–12939 Pp. 13020–13023

Amphibians of the Dibang River Basin, Arunachal Pradesh: an annotated A report on the possible interbreeding between Grizzled Giant Squirrel checklist with distributon records Ratufa macroura and Indian Giant Squirrel Ratufa indica from -- Jayanta K. Roy, Ramie H. Begum & M. Firoz Ahmed, Pp. 12940–12952 Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in the southern Western Ghats, India -- Kiran Thomas, D.K. Vinodkumar, Jomals Mathews John, M. Shaji & P.O. Taxonomic studies on the gaudy grasshoppers (Orthoptera: Pyrgomorphoidea: Nameer, Pp. 13024–13028 Pyrgomorphidae) from the northeastern states of India -- M. Imran Khan, M. Kamil Usmani, Shahnila Usmani & Hira Naz, Ischnura fountaineae (Insecta: Odonata: Zygoptera) in Oman, eastern Arabia Pp. 12953–12968 -- Elaine Mary Cowan & Peter John Cowan, Pp. 13029–13031

Odonata (Insecta) diversity of Kuldiha Wildlife Sanctuary and its adjoining First record of Leptogenys hysterica Forel, 1900 (Hymenoptera: Formicidae: areas, Odisha, eastern India Ponerinae) from Pakistan -- Subrat Debata & Kedar Kumar Swain, Pp. 12969–12978 -- Muhammad Tariq Rasheed, Imran Bodlah, Ammara Gull e Fareen & Xiaolei Huang, Pp. 13032–13036

Short Communicatons First report of darkling beetle Blaps orientalis Solier, 1848 (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae) from India -- V.D. Hegde, D. Vasanthakumar & S.V. Manthen, Pp. 13037–13038 On the diversity of the vertebrate fauna (excluding fshes) of Panchet Hill (Garh Panchkot), Purulia, West Bengal, India Notes on the occurrence of orchids Bulbophyllum medioximum, Herminium -- Sanjib Chatopadhyay, Somenath Dey & Utpal Singha Roy, 12979–12985 edgeworthii and H. macrophyllum (Orchidaceae) in Arunachal Pradesh, India First record of the rare Furry Lobster Palinurellus wieneckii (De Man, 1881) -- Krishna Chowlu, Avishek Bhatacharjee & Pankaj Kumar, Pp. 13039–13043 (Decapoda: Palinuridae) from the Arabian Sea -- K.K. Idreesbabu, C.P. Rajool Shanis & S. Sureshkumar, Pp. 12986–12989 Lectotypifcaton of two names in the genus Gymnostachyum (Acanthaceae) -- M.C. Shameer & V.K. Sreenivas, Pp. 13044–13045 Descripton of life stages of dung beetle Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with notes on nestng and biology Miscellaneous -- Suvarna S. Khadakkar, Ashish D. Tiple & Arun M. Khurad, Pp. 12990–12994 Member Natonal Biodiversity Authority An updated list of Odonata of southwestern Bangladesh -- M. Sajjad Hossain Tuhin & M. Kawsar Khan, Pp. 12995–13001

On the reproductve biology of Salacia frutcosa Wall. ex M.A. Lawson - an endemic medicinal plant of the Western Ghats, india -- K. Subin, P.A. Jose & T.V. Sarath, Pp. 13002–13005 Publisher & Host

Partners

Threatened Taxa