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Specialized habitats

SPECIALIZED HABITATS

a warm microclimate. This may even be the case

with incubation nests of cold-blooded animals

such as crocodiles, snakes, or turtles that lay their

eggs in mounds of decaying vegetation, or

exposed to the sun. The presence of a permanent

resident mammal or bird also provides some

protection, especially if the resident animal is

not an insect eater.

A rich and varied beetle fauna can usually be

found, alongside fleas, flies, their maggots and

other insects, in a typical mammal or bird nest.

Members of some families such as the Leiodidae,

Histeridae, Trogidae, and some subfamilies of

Staphylinidae and Scarabaeidae, are strongly

specialized for the nests or burrows of particular

animal species, and they are seldom found

anywhere else. For example, a striking and

previously unknown diversity of small

dung beetles of the scarab subfamily

Aphodiinae has recently been

discovered in the burrows

of pocket gophers in

supposedly well-known

and well-studied parts of

North America, and

none of the new species

had previously been

discovered in the dung

of surface-dwelling

rodents or other animals.

Examination of a bird

nest after the chicks have

VERTEBRATE NESTS

The nests of vertebrates, here not including

human dwellings, which are discussed separately

(see page 60), provide multiple opportunities for

adults and larvae of beetles. Nests are built by

animals to live in and rear their young. As well as

the bedding material used to make the nest itself,

the nests usually contain numerous potential food

sources for beetles. These include leftover or

discarded food, waste and excrement, feathers or

fur, fungi and molds, the occasional unhatched

egg or dead nestling, and a community of other

invertebrates as scavengers or parasites. The nest

will usually have high humidity, and if the animal

is warm-blooded, such as a mammal or bird,

left | Amblyopinus (Staphylinidae)

These beetles live in the fur of

opossums (as pictured here behind

the ears) and other mammals. They

breed in the nest.