Analisis comparado de las comunidades primaverales de escarabeidos coprofagos (Col., Scarabaeoidea) del archipielago balear

Comparative analysis of the spring dung-beetle scarabeid communities (Col., Scarabaeoidea) from the Balearic Islands. The specific richness and abundance of spring dung-beetle communities of Scarabaeoidea are analyzed in the most representative hábitats of the Balearic archipelago. The data enable to conclude that the main pattern of similarity among the different islands, is determined by the same environmental constraints that those of the other temperate areas of the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, there is a great similarity among coastland communities (dunes and beaches) due to the extreme scarcity of fauna and to the dominance of Scarabaeus semipunctatus (F., 1792). It may be verified a greatest qualitative faunistic similarity among Gimnésicas Islands (Mallorca and Menorca) on the one hand, and the Pitiusas Islands (Ibiza and Formentera) on the other; the last one is an impoverished gimnesic fauna. Finally, it is argued that the local communities of dung beetle Scarabaeoidea from the Balearic Islands, are not saturated and that its structure is mainly determined by the regional species pool which colonizes each island.