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Coprophanaeus
Coprophanaeus is a genus in the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). The genus is almost entirely Neotropical, with a single species, C. pluto, ranging into southernmost Texas in the United States. They are medium-sized to large beetles, with the South American C. ensifer and C. lancifer sometimes exceeding 5 cm (2 in) in length, making these two some of the largest dung beetles in the world (together with certain Catharsius and Heliocopris) and the largest in the Americas. They often have a horn on the head, and are typically a bright metallic color, most often blue or green (other colors also occur, for example red), or black. These diurnal or crepuscular beetles are excellent diggers and good fliers.
Although part of the true dung beetle subfamily Scarabaeinae, adult and young Coprophanaeus primarily feed on carrion, but many species may also feed on feces. They are paracoprids, meaning that adults dig tunnels into the soil under the food source and move parts of the food source to a nest chamber where the eggs are laid. Because of their feeding on carrion, they are of interest to forensic entomology.
32 branches of this genus, most-observed first
Giant Dung Digger
speciesCoprophanaeus lancifer
Coprophanaeus ensifer
speciesCoprophanaeus ensifer
Coprophanaeus cyanescens
speciesCoprophanaeus cyanescens
Coprophanaeus saphirinus
speciesCoprophanaeus saphirinus
Coprophanaeus corythus
speciesCoprophanaeus corythus
Coprophanaeus pluto
speciesCoprophanaeus pluto
Coprophanaeus telamon
speciesCoprophanaeus telamon
Coprophanaeus dardanus
speciesCoprophanaeus dardanus
Coprophanaeus milon
speciesCoprophanaeus milon
Coprophanaeus bonariensis
speciesCoprophanaeus bonariensis
Coprophanaeus gamezi
speciesCoprophanaeus gamezi
Coprophanaeus bellicosus
speciesCoprophanaeus bellicosus
Coprophanaeus boucardi
speciesCoprophanaeus boucardi
Coprophanaeus morenoi
speciesCoprophanaeus morenoi
Coprophanaeus pertyi
speciesCoprophanaeus pertyi
Coprophanaeus spitzi
speciesCoprophanaeus spitzi
Coprophanaeus conocephalus
speciesCoprophanaeus conocephalus
Coprophanaeus magnoi
speciesCoprophanaeus magnoi
Coprophanaeus jasius
speciesCoprophanaeus jasius
Coprophanaeus horus
speciesCoprophanaeus horus
Coprophanaeus gilli
speciesCoprophanaeus gilli
Coprophanaeus kohlmanni
speciesCoprophanaeus kohlmanni
Coprophanaeus parvulus
speciesCoprophanaeus parvulus
Coprophanaeus degallieri
speciesCoprophanaeus degallieri
Coprophanaeus chiriquensis
speciesCoprophanaeus chiriquensis
Coprophanaeus pecki
speciesCoprophanaeus pecki
Coprophanaeus acrisius
speciesCoprophanaeus acrisius
Coprophanaeus ohausi
speciesCoprophanaeus ohausi
Coprophanaeus thalassinus
speciesCoprophanaeus thalassinus
Coprophanaeus ignecinctus
speciesCoprophanaeus ignecinctus
Coprophanaeus rigoutorum
speciesCoprophanaeus rigoutorum
Coprophanaeus terrali
speciesCoprophanaeus terrali
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
—
geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
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In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Coprophanaeus in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 210587.