An experiment on dung removal by Aphodius larvae (Scarabaeidae) and earthworms

Cattle dung pats from the field, initially without Aphodius larvae, were transferred to tubs with clean sand orgarden soil. The experiment included four treatments: (1 ) pats on sand (controls); (2) pats on sand, 95 A . rufipes L. larvae added per pat; (3) pats on soil, 35-40 earthworms (mostly Lumbricus terrestris L.) added per pat; (4) pats on soil, 85 Aphodius larvae and 35-40 worms added per pat. The open tubs were placed outdoors for six weeks. The controls lost about 16% of their organic matter (averaged over the duration of the experiment). In treatment (2) loss of organic matter attributable to larvae was 0.62 g/larvae, i.e. 6-7 times the larval assimilation. Burial of organic matter contributed about 40% of this loss. In treatment (3) 0.75 g organic matter per g earthworm were lost through earthworm activity, under certain assumptions. The decrease in organic matter of pats subjected to treatment (4) indicated a simple additive effect of larvae and earthworms, without interactions.