Delve into dung beetle species

THE results of twelve months of research into dung beetle species throughout the region’s south set to be revealed during a presentation this weekend.

Hosted at Teesdale Community Hall on Sunday 16 July, the project is a collaboration between the Geelong and Upper Barwon Landcare networks and Southern Farming Systems.

The study was headed by Grace Evans, senior research and extension officer for Southern Farming Systems, who’ll also lead the presentation.

She said it’s important for farmers to know what dung beetles are in the region.

“The first step in building our populations is knowing what we’ve got at what time of year,” she said.

“They aerate soil by incorporating dung into it. They destroy fly populations by removing that habitat for them. Without them, dung would just sit on top of the ground and cause a massive problem.

“We want dung beetle populations at a high density all through the years but because there’s different species at different times, we need to know what holes to fill.

“The findings tell us we have quite a few species but the density isn’t as high as we’d like. We’re not strong on winter varieties. We’re a lot stronger on spring and summer varieties so there’s a gap.”

Funded by Victoria Landcare, 10 properties were surveyed between Wingeel up to She Oaks through to Lethbridge and Teesdale towards Beeac, with four traps placed at each location and checked once a month.

Seventeen species, either of dung beetles or insects serving the same purpose, were discovered out of an overall count of roughly 12,000 bugs.

Ms Evans said the presentation will be an identification workshop for local farmers.

“We’ll present examples of every dung beetle we’ve found as well as rough examples where they were found,” she said.

“We want to help everyone develop their ID skills so they can see what they’ve got and build a picture of what their farm looks like.

“From there, you can dig a little deeper into what species might be best for your property.”

Ms Evans said she’d like to see the project continued with research around bolstering the seasonal gap in dung beetle species with solutions like building nurseries to increase numbers.

Attendance can be registered by contacting Geelong Landcare Network on 0438 525 502 or Upper Barwon Landcare Network at 0407 552 663.