Figure 44.4: Dung Beetle Species Composition Changes over Time The Indian dung beetles represented in this diagram all consume elephant dung. Each bar indicates the time during which the species it represents is present. Whereas Copris repertus (top) colonizes newly produced dung and is still present 3 weeks later, other species enter and drop out of the community at various times, depending on their adaptations for finding dung and for using dung of different ages. Thus the composition of the beetle community changes over time. Notice also the different ways in which dung is used: some species roll balls of dung away and then bury them, some dwell in the dung, and some take bits of dung into chambers they dig under the dung pile.