The effects of Onthophagus gazella (F.) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) on infective larvae of parasitic strongyles (Strongylida: Strongylidae) of the horse : a thesis /
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| Format: | Thesis Book |
| Language: | English |
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[College Station, Tex.] :
[Texas A&M University],
1980.
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| Subjects: |
| Abstract: | ABSTRACT: Onthophagus gazella (F.) was examined in its ability to reduce numbers of infective larvae of horse strongyles. In a field experiment at College Station, TX., it was found that O. gazella populations of 22 and 44 pairs were incapable of burying entire 1 kg pats of horse feces near the end of the beetle's seasonal activity, so that beetle performance, or lack of it, actually made more infective larvae potentially available to grazing horses. Conversely, pats not acted upon by scarabs yielded comparatively few larvae during a similar time span of 31 d. Another experiment revealed that infective larvae of horse strongyles can migrate vertical distances of up to 20 cm in sandy clay loam, and because O. gazella often inters dung at depths greater than this, it could be a useful control agent for these nematodes in geographical regions having this soil type. However, much of the soil around College Station consists of a topsoil conducive to larval migration to the pasture surface from as deep as the clay subsoil, which may be impenetrable to dung beetles altogether during periods when the clay is dry and hard. The success of O. gazella in attenuating numbers of infective strongyle larvae in the southeastern U.S. is thus highly dependent on edaphic conditions, particularly soil type and moisture. |
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| Item Description: | Typescript (photocopy). Vita. "Major subject: Veterinary Parasitology." "Submitted to the Graduate College of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Master of Science December 1980". |
| Physical Description: | viii, 58 leaves : illustrations, graphs ; 29 cm |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (leaves 53-56). |