Perching behaviour in Bornean dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)

This paper reviews the current knowledge of perching behaviour in dung beetles, and records for the first time perching behaviour in three species of Onthophagus Latreille dung beetles in lowland rainforest in Borneo: O. mulleri (Lansberge), O. rorarius (Harold) and O. rugicollis (Harold). Field observations suggest tentatively that perching behaviour may have evolved as a thermoregulatory mechanism in at least two of these species. Ninety-nine dung beetle species were recorded from the Danum Valley Conservation Area, Sabah, and so, unlike other tropical forest sites where this behaviour is relatively common, only a few species display perching behaviour, suggesting differences in forest structure and/or resource supply between this and other forests.