The life cycle of almost all dung beetles revolve around mammalian dung, the feed on dung, look for mating partners on dung and lay eggs in the dung. We know they feed on dung, but we still do not understand how exactly they filter‐feed on the dung and which particles size range they are ingesting. The aim on this study was to investigate the filter feeding by particle selection by adult dung beetles using Scarabaeus goryi and how that improves the nutrient quality of the ingested particles. We compared the particle sizes and nutrient content of the dung with the ingested material in the foregut, hindgut and the faeces of the dung beetle. Adult dung beetles do select smaller dung particles when feeding, we found the maximum particle size for the ingested particle to be around 1400 μm. The average particle size increased through the gut length. Dung beetles also selected particles with higher nitrogen content when feeding, the nitrogen content increased from about 1.5% in the dung to just over 5% in the foregut which then decreased to the level of the unprocessed dung in the dung beetle faeces. Carbon content did not increase from the unprocessed dung to the foregut but decreased through the gut length. Feeding by particle size selection by dung beetles helps in selecting particles with higher nitrogen content to compensate for the low levels found in dung.

中文翻译：

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充分利用废物：虫如何提高食物中的氮含量

几乎所有的甲虫的生命周期都围绕着哺乳动物的粪便，即以粪便为食，在粪便上寻找交配伴侣，并在粪便中产卵。我们知道它们以粪便为食，但我们仍不了解它们如何在粪便上过滤并以何种粒径进食。这项研究的目的是研究使用粪甲虫（Scarabaeus goryi）通过成年甲虫选择颗粒来饲养过滤器以及如何改善所摄取颗粒的营养品质。我们将粪便的粒度和营养成分与前甲，后肠和粪甲虫的粪便中的摄入物质进行了比较。成年的甲虫在进食时确实会选择较小的粪便颗粒，我们发现摄入的颗粒物的最大粒径约为1400μm。平均颗粒尺寸随着肠长度的增加而增加。粪甲虫进食时也会选择含氮量较高的颗粒，其含氮量从粪中的约1.5％增加到前肠中的5％以上，然后下降到粪甲虫粪便中未处理的粪便水平。从未处理的粪便到前肠的碳含量没有增加，但在肠长中却降低了。