DOI: 10.5061/dryad.f4qrfj73n
title: Fruiting trees provide fruit and insect resources for four tropical deer species

description: Fruiting trees provide important fruit and seed resources for various
 animal species, but rarely are they considered to be rich sources of
 insects as well. During a study of seed dispersal of Trewia nudiflora
 (Euphorbiaceae) using camera-traps in Nepal, we observed four tropical
 deer species (Axis axis, Muntiacus vaginalis, Rusa unicolor, Axis
 porcinus) foraging for insects, rather than fruits under the trees. These
 herbivorous deer are proven seed dispersers of Trewia, but 8-38% of video
 captures (across each species) were of insectivory, rather than frugivory.
 The deer chased and consumed red cotton bugs (Dysdercus sp. family
 Pyrrhocoridae), which were seed predators that hoarded Trewia seeds. It is
 likely that other unidentified insect species were also consumed. Tropical
 deer species are considered to be fully herbivorous, so our observations
 extend their known diets and possibly indicate a seasonal requirement for
 protein. These findings also highlight tri-trophic interactions among
 deer, insects, and fruits that could have important implications for
 seedling recruitment if seed predators are being consumed by seed
 dispersers (in addition to fruit consumption).
description: Cameras were set-up under 75 fruiting trees of <em>Trewia
 nudiflora </em>to obtain information on its terrestrial consumers
 and seed dispersers. While monitoring the videos we noticed that not all
 deer feeding interactions were of fruit, and here we report confirmed and
 unconfirmed observations of insect feeding. Confirmed feeding was noted
 when the insect could be clearly distinguished in the video. Unconfirmed
 feeding was noted when the deer was feeding on something other than the
 easily identifiable fruit or vegetation; in many of these videos insects
 can be seen moving away from the deer as they forage, but insect-capture
 could not be confirmed.  A) Camera trapping and b), counted the number of
 red cotton bugs in one square meter plots (averaged across four plots per
 tree) for 20 trees (Karar et al.,
 2020).<strong> </strong>
description: # GENERAL INFORMATION **Fruiting trees provide fruit and insect resources
 for four tropical deer species** Two datasets are provided in relation to
 insect consumption by four tropical deer species (*Axis axis, Muntiacus
 vaginalis, Rusa unicolor, Axis porcinus*) in Chitwan National Park, Nepal.
 The first dataset (Insect_consumption) provides details on insect
 consumption by deer collected from camera-traps in 2020 and 2021. Cameras
 were set-up under 75 fruiting *Trewia nudiflora* (Euphorbiaceae) trees
 when fruit were at their peak abundance (August to October), primarily to
 collect seed dispersal information for the animal community. However, red
 cotton bugs (*Dysdercus* sp. family Pyrrhocoridae) consume the seeds of
 the fruit and these were the main insect chased and consumed by the deer.
 The first dataset reports all details recorded for the insect-eating
 events. The second dataset (Bug_counts) report the number of red cotton
 bugs in one square meter plots (averaged across four plots per tree) for
 20 fruiting *Trewia nudiflora *trees. The plots were placed along the
 cardinal direction (east, north, west, south) around the tree and under
 the canopy. **Citation for publication in which the data were used:**
 Awasthi B, Chen J, McConkey KR, (in press). Fruiting trees provide fruit
 and insect resources for four tropical deer species. Ecosphere. ##
 DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION  #### Dataset 1. Insect\_consumption Animal
 species: common name of the deer observed to consume insects
 Genus_species: Genus and species name of the deer Year: 2020 or 2021 Tree
 ID: unique code for each tree. Letters specify study area and numbers
 specify tree ID. Study areas within Chitwan National Park are:**
 **IT-Icherney, J- Jayamangala Date: Date of video recorded First video
 time: the start time of video recorded. Visit length (min): total length
 of an independent visit in minutes No. of individuals observed: Number of
 individuals of the deer species observed in the video Fruit-eating
 observed (1=yes, 0=no): if deer was also observed to consume fruits as
 well as insects then 1 was recorded. If only insects were eaten then 0 was
 recorded.   Insect-eating (1 = confirmed or 2 = likely): Confirmed feeding
 was noted when the insect could be clearly distinguished in the video
 (1=confirmed) and Unconfirmed feeding was noted when the deer was feeding
 on something other than the easily-identifiable fruit or vegetation; in
 many of these videos insects can be seen moving away from the deer as they
 forage, but insect-capture could not be confirmed (2=likely) #### Dataset
 2. Bug\_counts Tree ID: unique code for each tree for which data were
 collected. These are not the same trees as in Dataset 1. East_count:
 number of red cotton bugs counted in one square metre under the tree
 canopy to the east. North_count: number of red cotton bugs counted in one
 square metre under the tree canopy to the north. West_count: number of red
 cotton bugs counted in one square metre under the tree canopy to the west.
 South_count: number of red cotton bugs counted in one square metre under
 the tree canopy to the south. Mean count of RCB per sq m: Average (mean)
 of red cotton bugs across all four plots. --- **Chitwan National Park**
 The field study in Chitwan National Park in Nepal (latitude 27.537241,
 longitude: 84.447945) in 2020 and 2021, from August to October when
 *Trewia nudiflora* (Euphorbiaceae) fruit were at their peak abundance.
 Chitwan covers an area of 952.63 km2 in the Terai Arc Landscape of Nepal
 and has an altitudinal range of 150-800 m (Awasthi et al., 2023).
 **References** Awasthi, B., Lamichhane, B.R., MacConkey, K.R. 2023.
 Plastic ingestion by greater one-horned rhinos in Nepal: an emerging
 conservation threat*. Global Ecology and Conservation* 46: 1-6.
 [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02549](https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2023.e02549). Karar, H., Bashir, M.A., Khan, K.A., Ghramh, H.A., Atta, S., Ansari, M.J., Ahmad, Z., Khan,F.R.  2020. The impact of adjacent habitats on population dynamics of red cotton bugs and lint quality. *PLoS ONE* 15: e0242787. [https://doi.org/10.1371/journal](https://doi.org/10.1371/journal). pone.0242787.