Altitudinal change of fauna, diversity and food preference of dung and carrion beetles on Mt. Kinabalu, Borneo

On Mt. Kinabalu, the altitudinal distribution of dung beetles (Scarabaeoidea) was studied in a lowland forest at Poring (550-950 m in altitude), a montane forest at Park Headquarters (PHQ) (1350-1950 m), and a transitional lowland-montane forest at Sayap (950-1350 m), by using carrion or dung baited traps. Among 61 collected species (12 genera, four families), dominant species were Onthophagus obscurior, O. cervicapra, Catharsius molossus and Syzcpsis cambeforti in the lowland forest; Onthophagus sp. 16, O. sp. 17 and Phaeochroops silphoides in the transitional forest; and Onthophagus sp. 19 and O. sp,14 in the montane forest. Onthophagus sp. 15, O. pacificus, Copris sp. and Phaeochroops glias were widely distributed from lowland to highland. Along with the increase of altitude, the species diversity and its evenness decreased in the carrion-visiting beetles but showed little change in dung-visiting beetles. The species exclusively visiting carrion were absent above 1350 m. Some generalist beetles, which were collected from both carrion and dung traps, tended to be collected more frequently from dung traps at higher altitudes. This is probably at least because the proportion of beetles captured on dung increased competition for carcasses with the burying beetle Nicrophorus podagricas (Silphidae) which was dominant above 1350 m in altitude.