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The nesting activity, life cycle, and brood ball morphometry of the dung beetle Oniticellus cinctus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) were studied under laboratory conditions for the first time in India. The females made a brood chamber within the dung mass provided, wherein they made brood balls to lay eggs. The life cycle includes egg, larva (three instars), pupa, and adult stages. The total duration for the development was about one month. The study found that there was a significant difference present in the brood ball diameter (except in the first and second instars) and brood ball weight (except in the second instar and pupa) of the six life cycle stages. It was also found that brood ball weight and diameter have a significant positive correlation as well as a linear relationship.

3.2.14 Oniticellus cinctus (Fabricius, 1775) Scarabaeus cinctus Fabricius, 1775, Syst. Ent.: 30 (UMO). Scarabaeus serratipes Drury, 1770, Ill. Exot. Ins., 1: 79. Onitis diadema Wiedemann, 1819, Zool. Mag., 1(3): 159. Oniticellus cinctus var. diadema Wiedemann, 1819, Zool. Mag., 1(3): 159. Oniticellus cinctus: Janssens, 1953, Parc Nat. Upemba, Mission Witte, Fasc., 11: 107, 110. Material examined. [AFCD] China, Hong Kong, Shing Mun, 1♂ 2♀, 2010.IV.28, coll. unknown; Grassy Hill, 2♀, 2010.XII.24, coll. K.H. Cheung; Cheung Sheung, 1♀, 2012.IV.22, coll. M. Bai; Tap Mun, 1♀, 2016.II.29, coll. M.H. Leung; Lai Chi Wo, 1♀, 2016.IV.7, coll. M.H. Leung; Chek Keng, 1♂ 1♀, 2016.IX.5, coll. M.H. Leung. [IZAS] China, Hainan, Tongshen, 3♂ 2♀, 1997. V.26, coll. Wenzhu Li; Wu Zhi Shan, 800 m, 1♀, 1997.V.30, coll. Wenzhu Li. Vietnam, Cao Bang, 400 m, 3♂ 4♀, 2000.XII.17, coll. Wenzhu Li; Ha Giang, 100 m, 6♂ 4♀, 2000.XII.9, coll. Wenzhu Li. [BMNH] S. Bomlay, 1♂ 1♀; Malaya, N. Semlulan, 1♂, 1928.?.?; Nepal, Phewa-Tal, Pokhara, 85.059’E, 28.014’N, 2500 ft, 1♂, 1954.V.8–10, coll. K.H. Hyatt; Penang, Lamb, 1♂ 1♀, 93-60; Laos, Muong Va, 11♂ 7♀, 1918.XI.4, coll. R.V. de Salvaza; Sikkim, Kalimpong, 4000 ft., 2♂ 3♀, 1924.III.27, coll. R.W.G. Hingston; China, Hong Kong, 1♂ 1♀, coll. F.W. Terry; Singla, Darjiling, Bengal, 1500 ft, 1♂ 1♀, 1930.VI. [MNHN] Laos, Muong You, 1♂ 1♀; Chine, Kiang-Yen, 1♂ 1♀, Callery Coll., 59-47. Distribution. China (Hong Kong, Fujian, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan), Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam., Published as part of Cheung, Kahong, Bai, Ming, Leung, Manhin, Lee, Yingming, Chan, Kinfung & Yang, Xingke, 2018, Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Hong Kong, pp. 233-267 in Zoological Systematics 43 (3) on page 244, DOI: 10.11865/zs.201830, http://zenodo.org/record/4617705, {"references":["Fabricius, J. C. 1775. Systema Entomologiae, Sistens Insectorum Classes, Ordines, Genera, Species, Adiectis Synonymis, Locis, Descriptionibus, Observationibus. Officina Libraia Kortii, Flensburgi et Lipsiae. 832 pp.","Drury, D. 1770. Illustrations of Natural History. White, London. 130 pp.","Wiedemann, C. R. W. 1819. Neue Kafer aus Bengalen und Java. Zoologisches Magazin, 1: 157 - 183.","Janssens, A. 1953. Coleoptera, Lamellicornia, Fam. Scarabaeidea Tribu Oniticellini. Exploration du Parc National de l'Upemba, Mission G. F. Whitte en collaboration avec W. Adam, A. Janssens. L. van Meel et R. Verheyen (1946 - 1949). Institut des parcs nationaux du Congo Belge Fascicule, 11: 1 - 118."]}

The diversity, guild structure and succession of dung beetles associated with Indian elephant dung is described in a deciduous forest site in Western Ghats, a hot spot of diversity in India. Dung beetles were collected using baited pitfall traps and from exposed dung pats in the forest at intervals of 1, 3, 5, 7, 15 and 21 days. Twenty-one dung beetle species belonging to the 3 major functional guilds were recorded. Abundance of dwellers was high compared to rollers deviating from earlier reports on the high abundance of rollers in the afrotropical regions. Dweller Drepanocerus setosus and tunneler Onthophagus bronzeus were the most abundant species. Dung pats aged 3–5 days attracted the highest abundance of dung beetles. Bray Curtis similarity index indicated low community similarity between different stages of succession. Species richness and abundance of tunnelers increased with dung age and decreasing moisture up to a threshold level, followed by a decrease. Rollers and dwellers did not show any significant relationship with dung moisture content. Further research is needed to estimate the dung beetle community associated with the dung pats of other mega herbivores as well as of elephant dung in other forests of the Western Ghats.

In Oniticellus cinctus (F.) the nest chambers each contain about twenty brood balls. Females enlarge the brood balls during the egg and larval stages and remain in the chamber for the whole period of brood development (1 month); they then make a new nest after 1 week. The presence of the brood releases parental care and ensures that the mother remains in the nest: she repairs defects in the brood balls and the nest, and expels other O. cinctus females. A new ball is formed around a naked O. cinctus larva, but larvae of other species are killed. In addition, the brood inhibits oviposition: removal (or addition) of brood balls stimulates (or inhibits) egg laying. In inhibited ovarioles, existing follicles are resorbed and production of new ones ceases. Control of clutch size by the brood is an adaptation to the nest structure and life history of O. cinctus. It may have an important role in the reproductive strategy of other insects with parental care.