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EARTH-BORING DUNG BEETLES

GEOTRUPIDAE

W

ith fewer than a thousand known species

in the modern fauna, the Geotrupidae

are a relatively small but widespread lineage of

scarabaeoid beetles. They have a long evolutionary

history, found as fossils in Early Cretaceous rocks of

eastern Russia more than 130 million years old; so

they were contemporaries of dinosaurs, and may

even have fed on their dung before the appearance

of more typical dung beetles. The name

“Earth-boring Dung Beetles” is a slight misnomer,

since only one of the three major subfamilies, the

Geotrupinae, is associated with dung. However,

all species bore in the earth.

Geotrupinae includes the familiar Dor Beetles,

or Dumbledores, that fly noisily in the evening in

pastoral farming areas. These were formerly called

“lousy watchmen,” since their dusk flight marked

the beginning of the night-watch, and they are

GEOTRUPIDAE

family

Geotrupidae

known species

920

distribution

Worldwide except Antarctica, particularly

abundant in temperate zones

habitat

Geotrupinae often occur in agricultural

settings as well as plains and woodlands,

particularly in both northern and southern

hemisphere temperate zones. Bolboceratinae

are found in plains, deserts, and forests,

including tropical rainforests, and are

abundant in Australia. Lethrinae are sparsely

distributed from the Mediterranean across

Central Asia, in light woodland

size

5–30 mm