with special reference to the insect fauna in croplands of faisalabad

Pak. Entomol. Vol. 26, No.1, 2004
ANALYSIS OF THE SCATS OF SMALL INDIAN
MONGOOSE (Herpestes auropunctatus) WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO THE INSECT FAUNA IN CROPLANDS
OF FAISALABAD (PAKISTAN)
Mohummed Javed Iqbal Siddiqui, Naureen Rana* and Shahnaz A.Rana*
Department of Biology, Government College, Samanabad, Faisalabad Pakistan.
*Department of Zoology & Fisheries, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
ABSTRACT
Common remains in 500 scats collected from various farms constituted volume of insects
22.6%, soil 17.7%, feathers 16.1%, plant material 14.9%, bones 10.8%, and hairs 7.0%. The
frequency of occurrence of soil in the scats was 82.0%, plant material 81.0%, insects 67.0%,
bones 52.0%, feathers 46.2% and that of hairs was 31.2%. Insects were consumed most
intensively during all the four seasons of the year. Twelve insects namely, Odonats
(dragonflies and damselflies), Orthopterous (grasshoppers & crickets) Dictyopterous
(cockroaches and praying mantises), Isopterous (termites), Dermapterous (earwig),
Homopterous (planthoppers), Hemipterous (bugs), Coleopterous (beetles) and
Hymenopterous (ants, wasps and bees) were detected by their remnants.
INTRODUCTION
There are two species of mongoose in Pakistan,
the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes
auropunctatus) and the common Indian mongoose
(Herpestes edwardsi). The former is well adapted to
live near human habitations. It is a common small
carnivore in Pakistan, typically associated with
better-wooded regions of the Indus plain. It is
thought to be beneficial to man as it has been
reported to feed on a variety of poisonous
arthropods, harmful insects and rodents. In addition
to rat and mice they have also been reported to feed
on insects, crabs, frogs, reptiles, bird, small
mammals, scorpions and other invertebrates. Dwarf
mongoose mainly feed on insects like termites,
locusts, beetles, grubs, larvae and spiders. When
they forage, they keep in contact with short chirrup
calls, one of many vocalizations they use. Although
they often cooperate in hunting, adults generally do
share food. They will, however, collect and carry
insects to the young. Sometimes, H. ichneumon
even dines on fruit. Eggs are a favored delicacy.
(Prashad, 1936; Prater, 1971; Coman, 1973;
Gorman, 1975; Paradiso, 1975; Rood, 1975;
Roberts, 1977; Siddiqui et. al., 2003). These
mongooses also hunt insects. They place their noses
to the earth sniffing until they smell an insect and
then they either snatch it up as the unsuspecting bug
meanders along above ground or dig it out from
below the dirt (Osborn, 1998). Several large field
studies have revealed the small Indian mongoose to
be primarily an insectivore, though it also feeds
opportunistically on small vertebrates (Cavallini and
Nel, 1995). An early field study of the amount and
type of food eaten by a mongoose was done on the
small Indian mongoose on the island of Trinidad. In
this study, the nature of their foodstuffs depended
largely on the opportunities available. An
examination of the stomachs of 180 individuals
revealed insects, spiders, snails, slugs, frogs, lizards,
snakes, birds, eggs of birds and reptiles, all kinds of
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Pak. Entomol. Vol. 26, No.1, 2004
rodents, crabs, fish and fruits (Williams, 1918).
Members of this species have also been known to
catch mammals many times their size, up to the size
of hares and even the young of white-tailed deer
(Seaman and Randall 1962). The present study
focalizes to assess feeding habits and predatory
potential of mongoose against insects in croplands.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
A total of 500 scats of small Indian mongoose
(Herpestes auropunctatus) were collected from the
experimental farms of University of Agriculture
Faisalabad, the farms of the Nuclear Institute of
Agriculture and Biology (NIAB) Faisalabad, and the
farms near Nishatabad, Faisalabad. The oven dried
and stored scats were soaked in warm water for 2 to
3 hours to loosen the hair and other materials
binding the scats. Each scat was examined to sort
out fragments of insect bodies, bones, hairs,
feathers, plant material, mollusks, and soil under a
magnifying glass or low power binocular
microscope. The identification of insects was made
by references available in Entomology Department,
University of Agriculture, Faisalabad.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Analysis of the scats of the small Indian
mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) revealed the
presence of different food items including hairs of
mammals, feathers of birds, bones of vertebrates.
The invertebrate remnants were wings, antennae,
legs and heads of insects, and shells of mollusks.
The miscellaneous items included pieces of
polythene and stones, sand particles, nylon threads,
beads and threads of wool. Most herpestids are
predators, feeding on a wide range of animals
including small mammals and birds (including bird
eggs), reptiles (especially snakes), a wide variety of
insects, and crabs. Some species also include
vegetable material in their diets, feeding on tubers,
fruits, and berries (Feldhamer et. al., 1999).
Most common remains in the scats were insects
(23%) followed by soil (18%), feathers (16%), plant
material (15%), bones (11%) and hairs (7%) (Fig.1).
Insects, feathers, plant material and soil were the
main four items of the mongoose scats. Hairs were
still in lesser number. These results are in line with
findings of Pimental (1955) and reported that 315
food items were 88.9% animals and 11.1% plant
material, insects made up 56.4% of the animals and
the remainder included reptiles, 17.1; myriapods,
12.1; arachnids, 7.9; mammals, 2.9; crustaceans,
1.4; asteroids, 1.1; and amphibians, 1.1 in 56
stomachs from Puerto Rico. A few mollusks were
also present in the scats. The chances of appearance
of fragments of eggshells in the scats of the
mongoose are very rare because the mongoose most
probably laps the contents of the eggs. (Table 1).
The Egyptian mongooses came by their scientific
name because the animal was believed to track
down crocodile eggs. Whether or not that is true is
still unknown. Mongooses have an interesting way
of eating eggs: they throw them through their hind
legs against something hard like a rock or wall.
(Kingdon, 1977; Osborn, 1998). The same might be
true with respect to mollusks. The mongoose might
attempt to consume only the soft parts of the
mollusks. Presence of fragments of their shells may
be taken as a result of accidental ingestion.
Occurrence of soil in almost all the scats of the
mongoose may be taken as an indication that the
mongoose feeds on earthworms. The mongoose has
been reported to feed on plants, insects (dragonflies,
beetles, lepidopteron larvae, grasshoppers and
crickets), bones, feathers and hair (frogs, toads,
reptiles, birds and rodents) (Roberts, 1977; Gorman,
1979; Nowak, 1999). The Spanish mongoose
(Herpestes ichneumon) makes up the greater part of
its diet by consuming young rabbits and
supplements it by reptiles, insects, mushrooms, etc.
(Delibes, 1976).
Insects were eaten during each month of this
study period in fairly good numbers especially
during the months of April, August, September,
January and February. They were best consumed
during the summer and winter when their frequency
of occurrence in the scats was 71.4% and 78.3%,
while in spring and fall samples, insects occurred
with the frequency of 62.4% and 61.7%. The
average frequency of occurrence for the four
seasons of the year was 67.0% (Table 1).
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Pak. Entomol. Vol. 26, No.1, 2004
2%
8%
23%
15%
18%
16%
7%
11%
Insects Feathers Bones Hairs
Soil P. Tissues Shells Misc.
Fig.1: Percent volume of remnants of food of the small Indian mongoose found in its scats.
Table 1: Frequency of occurrence of various food items of all four seasons in the scats of the
small Indian mongoose (n = number of scats)
% Frequency of occurrence
FOOD Spring Summer Fall Winter Total % Relative
ITEMS (n=85 ) (n=70) (n=230) (n=115) (n=500) Frequency
Hairs 42.4 (36) 28. 6 (20) 32. 6 (75) 21. 7 (25) 31. 2 (156) 8
Feathers 48. 2 (41) 37. 1 (26) 46. 5 (107) 49. 6 (57) 46. 2 (231) 11
Bones 49. 4 (42) 57. 1 (40) 57. 4 (132) 40. 0 (46) 52. 0 (260) 13
Insects 62. 4 (53) 71. 4 (50) 61. 7 (142) 78. 3 (90) 67. 0 (335) 16
Mollusks 2. 4 (2) 8. 6 (6) 3. 5 (8) 1. 7 (2) 3.6(18) 1
Bird Eggs 5.9(5) 2. 9 (2) 4. 8 (11) 3. 5 (4) 4. 4 (22) 1
Plants 88. 2 (75) 87. 1 (61) 78. 3 (180) 77. 4 (89) 81. 0 (405) 20
Soil 80. 0 (68) 81. 4 (57) 83. 9 (193) 80. 0 (92) 82. 0 (410) 20
Misc. 47. 1 (40) 52. 9 (37) 43. 9 (101) 38. 3 (44) 44. 4 (222) 10
Table 2: Remains of various insects represented in all the seasonal samples of the insects in the scats
of the small Indian mongoose (n=number of insects)
% Frequency of occurrence (n)
INSECTS
Spring Summer Fall Winter Total
(n=233) (n=198) (n=704) (n=478) ( n=1613)
Dragonflies 45.5(106) 38.4(76) 31.6(222) 28.7(137) 33.5(541)
Beetles 15.0(35) 12.6(25) 34.0(239) 32.9(157) 28.3(456)
Grasshoppers 19.8(46) 18.2(36) 8.1(57) 9.6(46) 11.5(185)
Honey bees 2.1(5) 5.1(10) 2.8(20) 1.9(9) 2.7(44)
Bugs 2.1(5) 5.5(10) 2.8(20) 2.7(13) 3.0(49)
Cockroaches 2.6(6) 5.1(10) 1.4(10) 0.2(1) 1.7(27)
Ants 3.9(9) 4.0(8) 9.8(69) 22.8(109) 12.1(195)
Termites 6.9(16) 5.5(11) 8.2(58) - 5.3(85)
Crickets 1.7(4) 2.0(4) 1.0(7) 1.0(5) 1.2(20)
P. Mantises 0.4(1) 1.0(2) 0.3(2) - 0.3(5)
Wasps - 2.6(5) - 0.2(1) 0.4(6)
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Pak. Entomol. Vol. 26, No.1, 2004
The remnants of insects in the scats
were cuticularized body segments, wings,
legs, antennae, eyes, mouthparts, and
genitalia. Table 2 depicts the proportion of
various insects in the scats of the small
Indian mongoose. Among insects, four
groups, namely, dragonflies, beetles, ants
and grasshoppers were the main staples.
They were present in all the seasonal
samples. The frequency of occurrence of
dragonflies, beetles, ants and grasshoppers
were 45.5%, 15.0%, 3.9%, and 19.8% in the
spring samples, 38.4%, 12.6%, 4.0% and
18.2% in summer, 31.6%, 34.0%, 9.8% and
8.1% in fall, 28.7%, 32.9%, 22.8% and 9.6%
in the winter samples respectively. The
average frequency of occurrence of
dragonflies, beetles, ants and grasshoppers
were 33.5%, 28.3%, 12.1% and 11.5% for
all the four seasons respectively. The next
best consumed insects, in order of
decreasing frequencies of occurrence, were
termites (5.3%), bugs (3.0%), and honey
bees (2.7%). The remaining insects were
consumed only scarcely. Parts of the insects
Helicopric bucephalus, Anthic sexguttala,
Blap arientalis, Onthophagus longicornix,
and Grylus sagillatus and a scorpion were
found in the stomachs of two small Indian
mongooses collected in the Rajasthan Desert
in India (Prakash, 1959).
The data of the present study have
clearly shown that insects are important
components of the diet of the small Indian
mongoose and as such it must be playing an
important role in controlling the populations
of insects in the croplands. Seaman (1952)
reported the stomach contents were
composed of lizards (Anolis), 0.5; toads,
13.9; mice (Mus musculus), 13.9; rats
(Rattus rattus), 13.9; birds, 2.8; poultry,2.8;
insects, 83.0; crabs, 11.1; fruit, 11.1; and
vegetable matter, 5.5 (Seaman, 1952). But,
predators with wide feeding niche are
known to change their menu according to
the availability of food as Southern and
Watson (1941) and Coman (1973) have
reported for red fox. So as far as the
consumption of rats, mice and insects is
concerned, the small Indian mongoose
seems to be a friend of the farmer as it plays
a positive role in ridding the cropland of
these pests.
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