CANBERRA, June 2 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists have observed a native fungus infecting imported dung beetles for the first time.

The discovery, revealed by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) on Friday, indicates that Australia's local fungi could have played a role in the failure of some scarab beetles to establish in the country.

The Beauveria australis infection was discovered in a population of dung beetles imported from Morocco by the CSIRO as part of its attempts to reduce the ecological damage caused by cows and sheep.

Beauveria spores spread through a host's body, eventually killing them.

It was known to infect grasshoppers, ants and other beetles but it had never before been found in the scarab beetle family.

The outbreak occurred in a rearing laboratory where beetles raised from eggs taken from the quarantine population were being prepared for release into the wild.

"The fungus was not found in the original populations in the quarantine facility, and it doesn't occur in Morocco, so it's a new pathogen for these dung beetles," CSIRO entomologist Valerie Caron said in a media release.

"Given this, the fungus infection most likely came from local soil and dung used in the rearing facility and posed no threat to humans."

The CSIRO has released 44 species of dung beetle into the Australian wilderness since the 1960s, 23 of which established populations in the field.

They clean up livestock dung that would otherwise be left on the soil surface, recycling nutrients and reducing fly breeding.

Caron said the the new discovery could explain why some species failed to take hold in Australia.

"Fungi may be a potential challenge for the establishment of newly introduced dung beetle species," she said.

"Further research is needed to find out how widespread these native Beauveria species are, their virulence and how they affect dung beetles in the field." Enditem

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