Diversity, faunal composition and conservation assessment of dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in two reserve forests of Haryana (India)

As dung beetles perform vital service to ecosystem, their recent decline in open grassland and agro-ecosystem in North-West India warranted monitoring of lost taxa in the nearby protected woodland areas. Accordingly, two dry subtropical reserved forests, Sonti and Seonsar, 70 km apart, in Haryana were undertaken to explore the species richness, abundance, diversity and seasonality in dung beetles for two years. A total of 33 species only, 32 (4673 individuals) from Sonti and 24 (1248 individuals) from Seonsar, from 16 genera and three subfamilies were obtained in the total period. Though species richness was higher in Sonti forest, the diversity was higher in the larger Seonsar forest. Sisyphus neglectus Gory (3106 individuals) was the most dominant species in both the forests, more exceptionally in Sonti forest. All the faunal components, namely, species composition, diversity and abundance were found varying in every successive catch at both sites showing seasonal effect. Species diversity peaked in April and September-October in Sonti forest and from May to August in Seonsar. Most of the catches though comprised of all the three functional groups, i.e., rollers, tunnellers and dwellers, their mutual proportions were varying. Several dung beetle species, especially rollers, imperiled in recent times in adjoining urban landscape, were recovered in plenty from the two forests, including a new species Garreta sylvestris Mittal. Evidently these natural habitats amidst anthropically disturbed areas were serving as refuge for the lost and depleted dung beetle fauna around raising hopes for the conservation of vulnerable fauna in North-West India.