Cases of interspecific "parasitism" in Scarabaeidae (Coleoptera)

A few conclusions can be reached from the information at hand. Aphodius occasionally will develop in dung cells buried by other Scarabaeidae. The Aphodius larvae destroy and may consume the eggs or larvae of the host. In the five cases observed, the immature stages of the Onthophagus were "parasitized" by single Aphodius larvae. Chance inclusion of a single Aphodius egg in each of the masses formed by the Onthophagus seems unlikely. However, it cannot be said definitively that Aphodius lividus (Oliv.) is deliberately "parasitic."