Temporal Succession of Scarabaeidae and Seasonal Dynamics of Coleoptera and Acari Associated with Bovine Dung in Goiás, Brazil: Community Structure and Ecological Functions

Bovine dung is an ephemeral resource that supports taxonomically and functionally diverse arthropod assemblages whose structure changes during substrate aging and across the annual climatic cycle. This study quantitatively integrated independent experimental datasets on Coleoptera and Acari associated with bovine dung in Itumbiara, Goiás, Brazil, emphasizing community structure, short-term succession, diversity, constancy, seasonal occurrence, and ecological functions. An annual experiment comprised 240 eight-day-old bovine-dung pats sampled from January to December 1998, whereas an independent succession experiment evaluated Scarabaeidae in dung exposed for 24–240 h. A pig-carcass experiment was retained exclusively as a complementary ecological dataset and was not pooled with bovine-dung abundances. The annual dataset contained 11,599 individuals, including 11,114 Coleoptera and 485 Acari. Ataenius aequalis Harold, 1880 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) and Oxytelus sp. (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) together accounted for 71.04% of Coleoptera. Among Acari, Glyptholaspis confusa (Foà, 1900) (Mesostigmata: Macrochelidae) represented 66.39% of individuals. The succession experiment yielded 3,229 Scarabaeidae and showed the highest abundance, richness, Shannon diversity, Simpson diversity, and evenness in recently deposited dung. Assemblage structure became increasingly concentrated as the substrate aged, principally through the persistence and numerical predominance of A. aequalis. Taxonomic composition differed significantly among early, intermediate, and late temporal phases (χ² = 892.27; df = 20; p < 0.0001; Cramér’s V = 0.372). In the annual assemblage, 13 taxa were constant, seven accessory, and nine accidental, while seasonal abundance peaks differed among taxa. The combined results demonstrate that bovine-dung arthropod communities are structured simultaneously by substrate age, numerical inequality, annual recurrence, and taxon-specific seasonality. Scarabaeidae contribute primarily to dung processing and soil incorporation, whereas Histeridae, Macrochelidae, and several Staphylinidae contribute to trophic regulation and the potential natural suppression of immature Diptera.