Four new taxa from New Guinea are proposed in the dung beetle genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802, all in the operational group of Onthophagus catenatus Lansberge, 1883. The group is discussed, defined, and the five taxa included are listed, keyed, and diagnosed. Three new species are described: Onthophagus abmisibilus (from West New Guinea, Indonesia), Onthophagus kokodanus, Onthophagus kokosqua...

New distributional data are reported on the rare phanaeine dung beetle, Oxysternon pteroderum Nevinson, 1892, based on five specimens recently collected between 1985 and 2010. Before the present study, Oxysternun pteroderum had been reported solely from the super-moist Atlantic coastal forests of southeastern Brazil. We now believe that the distribution of Oxysternun pteroderum follows the ripa...

Aphengium Harold, a dung beetle genus endemic to the Atlantic forests of Brazil, comprises four valid species: A. sordidum Harold, 1868, A. cupreum Shipp, 1897, A. ibateguara sp. nov., A. curtum sp. nov.. In this revision of the genus each species is analyzed as follows: a detailed literature review, a diagnosis, illustrations of key morphological characters, a listing of material examined and ...

Dung beetles are frequently used to assess tropical biodiversity patterns and recovery in human-modified forests. We conducted a comprehensive dung beetle survey (coprophagous necrophagous communities) within five habitat types, across land-use gradient, the ecologically biodiverse Osa Peninsula, located Costa Rica's south Pacific. In addition assessing species richness, abundance, biomass, we ...

Shared brood care or parenting chores are rare behaviors in insects. While a number of species exhibit biparental care, including wood roaches, passalid beetles, and some bark and dung beetles, only burying beetle males (Nicrophorus orbicollis) participate in all activities, remain with the brood throughout development, and can take over all parenting responsibilities if the female disappears. ...

Dung beetles Onthophagus taurus lay their eggs in brood balls within dung pats. The dung that is used must be sufficiently fresh, and so beetles must keep moving from pat to pat to find fresh dung. If another beetle finds a brood ball it will usually eat the egg inside and lay its own egg in the brood ball instead of constructing its own ball. Thus, beetles will often stay near their eggs to gu...

Animals eat different foods in proportions that yield a more favorable balance of nutrients. Despite known examples of these behaviors across different taxa, their ecological and physiological benefits remain unclear. We identified a surprising dietary shift that confers ecophysiological advantages in a dung beetle species. Thorectes lusitanicus, a Mediterranean ecosystem species adapted to eat...