Surveys of Arkansas Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae and Geotrupidae): Phenologies, Mass Occurrences, State and Distributional Records

We present the results of an 18 mo survey of the seasonal activity and species composition of dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae and Geotrupidae: Geotrupes) from a cattle pasture on Crowley's Ridge, Arkansas, and of 17 additional surveys, at various localities and habitats across Arkansas. Collections at the cattle pasture comprised 236,880 beetles, representing 22 species. Labarrus pseudolividus Balthasar comprised 97.7% of the total trap catch, with the majority being collected in Jun., Jul. and Aug. 2007 which involved two separate mass occurrences during that time. From all surveys, we documented 22 state records, of which Colobopterus erraticus (Linnaeus) and Onthophagus taurus (Schreber) represented subtle range extensions to their known distributions, while the remaining 20 species were projected to occur in Arkansas. A checklist, distributional record and bibliography of the 64 species of dung beetles that are now known to occur in Arkansas are presented.