Dung Beetles - Subfamily Scarabaeinae
Family Scarabaeidae
- Beetles in this subfamily have the round stout body. Usually they are black, dark brown or dark green in colour. They do not have the triangle-shaped scutellum. They have very long hind legs. Their front legs are short but strong which are for digging in soil and dung. They are Dung Beetles.
- Adult Dung Beetle males and females usually look differently. Most males have the prominent horn while females luck such armatures. Larvae are hump-backed and most feed on marsupial dung. Some others feed on fungi or decaying plant materials.
- Black Dung Beetle
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- Onthophagus chepara, body length 20mm
- The Dung Beetle was found on leaves in Tamborine on Apr 2008. Please check this page for more pictures and information.
- Greed Dung Beetle
- Onthophagus tweedensis, body length 15mm
- This Green Dung Beetle is dark green in colour with its wings cover dark green to almost black. We have more information and pictures about this Green Dung Beetle in this page.
- Punctated Dung Beetle
- Onthophagus tenebrosus, body length 10mm
- This Dung Beetle is black in colour with pale brown antenna. Surface is densely and coarsely punctated. There are two small lobes on the head shows that it is a major major male. Please check this page for more information.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, p 629.
- 2. Scarabaeinae - Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2008.
- 3. Key to the Dung Beetles of New South Wales - FaunaKey, Australian Museum, 2003.
- 4. A Guide to the Beetles of Australia - George Hangay and Paul Zborowski, CSIRO PUBLISHING, April 2010, p89.
- 5. A revision of the Scarabaeine Dung Beetles of Australia. I. Tribe Onthophagini - E.G. Matthews, 1971, Australian Journal of Zoology Supplementary Series 19(9) 3 - 330.
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, p 629.
This page contains information and pictures about Dung Beetles in Subfamily Scarabaeinae that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
