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Living Environment and Basic Features of the Nematodes Associated with Dung Beetle Onthophagus atripennis

Yuya Ikeda

Yuya Ikeda

School of Agriculture, Meiji University, KawasakiKanagawa, Japan
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Ikeda, Yuya
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Natsumi Kanzaki

Natsumi Kanzaki

Kansai Research Center, Forestry and Forest Products Research InstituteKyoto, Japan
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Kanzaki, Natsumi
 and 
Ryoji Shinya

Ryoji Shinya

School of Agriculture, Meiji University, KawasakiKanagawa, Japan
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Shinya, Ryoji
  
Aug 31, 2025
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Article Category: Research Paper
Published Online: Aug 31, 2025
Received: Apr 01, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jofnem-2025-0035
Keywords
© 2025 Yuya Ikeda et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1:

Onthophagus atripennis and their brood balls. (A) An adult male of Onthophagus atripennis. (B) A rearing case of Onthophagus atripennis and their brood balls (white arrow). (C) A brood ball and egg of Onthophagus atripennis.
Onthophagus atripennis and their brood balls. (A) An adult male of Onthophagus atripennis. (B) A rearing case of Onthophagus atripennis and their brood balls (white arrow). (C) A brood ball and egg of Onthophagus atripennis.

Figure 2:

Phylogenetic tree of Mononchoides sp. (SHR143) and Onthodiplogaster japonica (SHR18) with 20 Diplogastrid taxa inferred from the 28S rDNA gene by using the Maximum Likelihood method under Tamura-Nei model. Numbers at the nodes represent support values in percent for 1000 bootstrap replicates.
Phylogenetic tree of Mononchoides sp. (SHR143) and Onthodiplogaster japonica (SHR18) with 20 Diplogastrid taxa inferred from the 28S rDNA gene by using the Maximum Likelihood method under Tamura-Nei model. Numbers at the nodes represent support values in percent for 1000 bootstrap replicates.

Figure 3:

Characteristic parts of nematode isolated in this study. Head regions of (A) Onthodiplogaster japonica (SHR18), (B) Pelodera sp. (SHR133), (C) Pelodera sp. (SHR150), and (D) eurystomatous form and (E) stenostomatous form of Mononchoides sp. (SHR143). (F) Ventral part and a juvenal of Tokorhabditis atripennis (SHR108). Mail tail regions of (G, H) Tokorhabditis atripennis (SHR108), and (I, J) Tokorhabditis tauri (SHR107). The white bars in these images are scale of 10 μm. cldt: claw-like dorsal tooth. rst: right subventral tooth.
Characteristic parts of nematode isolated in this study. Head regions of (A) Onthodiplogaster japonica (SHR18), (B) Pelodera sp. (SHR133), (C) Pelodera sp. (SHR150), and (D) eurystomatous form and (E) stenostomatous form of Mononchoides sp. (SHR143). (F) Ventral part and a juvenal of Tokorhabditis atripennis (SHR108). Mail tail regions of (G, H) Tokorhabditis atripennis (SHR108), and (I, J) Tokorhabditis tauri (SHR107). The white bars in these images are scale of 10 μm. cldt: claw-like dorsal tooth. rst: right subventral tooth.

Figure 4:

Phylogenetic tree of Tokorhabditis spp. with 7 syn. Rhabditis taxa and Pelodera spp. with 9 Pleiorhabditis taxa inferred from the 28S rDNA gene by using the maximum likelihood method under GTR + G + I model. Numbers at the nodes represent support values in percent for 1,000 bootstrap replicates.
Phylogenetic tree of Tokorhabditis spp. with 7 syn. Rhabditis taxa and Pelodera spp. with 9 Pleiorhabditis taxa inferred from the 28S rDNA gene by using the maximum likelihood method under GTR + G + I model. Numbers at the nodes represent support values in percent for 1,000 bootstrap replicates.

Figure 5:

Tail regions of Pelodera (coarctata group) isolated in this study. (A) The female tail of SHR133. (B) The male tail of SHR133. (C) The female tail of SHR150. (D) The male tail of SHR150. The white bars in these images are scale of 10 μm.
Tail regions of Pelodera (coarctata group) isolated in this study. (A) The female tail of SHR133. (B) The male tail of SHR133. (C) The female tail of SHR150. (D) The male tail of SHR150. The white bars in these images are scale of 10 μm.

Figure S1:

The dimension of dung beetles’ rearing case.
The dimension of dung beetles’ rearing case.

Figure S2:

The alignment result of partial 28S rDNA region of the three strains, SHR18, 27, and 154.
The alignment result of partial 28S rDNA region of the three strains, SHR18, 27, and 154.

Figure S3:

The alignment result of partial 18S rDNA region of the three strains, EJR13, 95, and SHR107.
The alignment result of partial 18S rDNA region of the three strains, EJR13, 95, and SHR107.

Figure S4:

The overall view of Mononchoides sp., strain SHR143.
The overall view of Mononchoides sp., strain SHR143.

The details of beetles’ rearing cases and samples isolated from the cases_

ID Date of setting Date of dissection Number of beetles Number of Brood balls
Male Female
1 2023.7.14 2023.7.21 2 2 2
2 2023.7.14 2023.7.21 1 2 4
3 2023.7.16 2023.7.24 1 2 0
4 2023.7.18 2023.7.25 2 2 0

The nematode strains isolated from samples of rearing cases_ The ID number described in “Isolated from” is the “ID” used in Table 2_

Strain Isolated from Estimated taxon Sequence region (Primer) Accession No.
SHR88 Feces from ID 1 T. atripennis 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022059
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022047
SHR142 Tunnel from ID 1 T. atripennis 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022060
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022048
SHR133 Feces from ID 2 Pelodera sp. 28S rDNA (D2a/D4R), 18S PV022061
rDNA (988F/F22/R13/2646R) PV022049
SHR132 Feces from ID2 T. atripennis 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022062
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022050
SHR93 Tunnel from ID2 T. atripennis 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R) PV022051
SHR120 Tunnel from ID 2 Oscheius sp. 18S rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022063
SHR108 Brood ball from ID 2 T. atripennis 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022064
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022052
SHR107 Tunnel from ID 3 T. tauri 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022065
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022053
SHR143 Feces from ID 3 Mononchoides sp. 28S rDNA (D1F/D2a/D3b/D4R), 18S PV022066
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022054
SHR106 Feces from ID 4 T. atripennis 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022067
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022055
SHR150 Feces from ID 4 Pelodera sp. 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022068
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022056
SHR114 Tunnel from ID 4 T. atripennis 28S rDNA (D1F/D4R), 18S PV022069
rDNA (18S-CL-F3/18S-CL-R1) PV022057

Onthopahgus atripennis collected by pit-hole trap in this study and the associated nematodes_ All beetles were collected in Kawasaki, Kanagawa_

Date Site Associated nematode Strain
2021.5.14 Meiji University - -
2021.5.14 Meiji University Tokorhabditis atripennis SHR9
2021.5.14 Meiji University - -
2021.5.14 Meiji University - -
2021.5.14 Meiji University - -
2021.5.15 Meiji University - -
2021.5.15 Meiji University - -
2021.8.2 Meiji University - -
2021.8.2 Meiji University - -
2021.8.2 Meiji University - -
2021.8.2 Meiji University Onthodiplogaster japonica SHR18
2021.8.4 Meiji University Tokorhabditis atripennis SHR21
2021.8.4 Meiji University - -
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center Onthodiplogaster japonica SHR154
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center Tokorhabditis atripennis SHR16
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center - -
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center - -
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center - -
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center - -
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center - -
2021.9.30 Kurokawa Field Science Center Onthodiplogaster japonica SHR22
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