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During May 1999, feces baited pit-fall traps were run at the Welder Wildlife Refuge near Sinton, Texas, duplicating, in part, earlier surveys of 1974–75 and 1985. The results show a decline in the number of species of Scarabaeinae and a shift in species composition. Possible explanations for the changes include vegetational-climatic differences over time and the recent increase in the number of the red imported fire ant.
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Howden et al. (2001) studied this question.
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