Entomologist Sarah Beynon studies Camrose dung beetles (From Western Telegraph)

Entomologist Sarah Beynon studies Camrose dung beetles

4:01pm Wednesday 26th November 2008

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The dung beetle population on a Pembrokeshire farm is to be examined in detail to establish the impact of wormers on the species.

Roger Mathias, of Furzy Mount, Camrose, has teamed up with Pembrokeshire entomologist Sarah Beynon, for a four-year study on the dung beetle.

Sarah, the daughter of St Davids Welsh Black breeders John and Pauline Beynon, has been awarded a scholarship to study how chemical and natural wormers affect populations of the dung beetle.

Her research will be split between Pembrokeshire and the entomology department at Oxford University.

It was while Sarah was doing some freelance entomology work for Roger after graduating from Oxford that she saw the potential for embarking on a study of the dung beetle.

She was researching the ground beetle population on Roger’s farm and using them as an indicator of biodiversity and the health of the habitat.

She had also looked at the impact of ivermectins on dung beetles at the farm.

Her initial study involved counting populations of beetles in the dung of cattle which had been dosed with ivermectins either once a year, several times or not at all.

“I discovered that there were four times the number of dung beetles in the dung of cattle that hadn’t been wormed,” said Sarah.

Dung beetles are very efficient converters of dung to fertiliser, with some making balls out of the dung and burying it before the females lay their eggs in it.

The majority live in the dung and lay their eggs there while their tunnelling action aerates the dung, allowing earthworms to enter it and help with the decomposition. They also carry microbes which help further with the decomposition.

Without the beetle, the un-degraded dung of 12 cattle would cover an acre of land in a year.

“From a farmer’s point of view the dung beetle is hugely important,” added Sarah.

* See full report and further pictures in the January issue of Pembrokeshire Farmer.

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