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beetle is a dung
beetle
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The importance of
Dung Beetles
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Lepanus australis
Distribution
Eastern slopes and coastal plains of New South Wales and eastern Victoria. Often collected with L. illawarrensis and L. bidentatus in rainforests on mountain slopes.
Description
Total length 2.9-3.5mm. Black with reddish extremities.
Head: Clypeal teeth short. Surface smooth, shiny and glabrous, densely covered with small, shallow and indistinct punctures. Dorsal part of eyes narrow.
Prothorax: Pronotal surface smooth, shiny and glabrous, densely covered with small, shallow and indistinct punctures.
Elytra: Striae indistinct and impunctate. Intervals smooth and shiny, with numerous minute punctures bearing extremely fine, long setae. No pseudepipleura.
Sterna: Mesosternum impunctate. Metasternum with numerous small shallow punctures, the lateral lobes with very fine setae as on elytra. No tubercle on metasternum.
Legs: Fore tibiae with long, parallel apical digit, with very short fore spur (not visible from above). Outer margin of fore tibiae with 2 teeth near apex. Middle and hind legs unmodified. Claws subdentate.
Abdomen: Pygidium without depression, uniformly punctate and covered with very fine hairs.
Sexual dimorphism
Female: Apical digit of fore tibiae shorter and fore spur larger. Pygidium a little more transverse, length of last abdominal sternite equal to 3 preceding ones (equal to 2 preceding ones in male).
References
Matthews, E.G. (1974) A revision of the Scarabaeine dung beetles of Australia. II. Tribe Scarabaeini. Aust. J. Zool. Suppl. Ser. 24: 1-211.
Williams, G. A. & Williams, T. (1982) A survey of the Aphodiinae, Hybosorinae and Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from small wet forests of coastal northern New South Wales. Part 1: Nowra to Newcastle. Aust. ent. Mag. 9: 42-48.
Copyright © Australian Museum 2016
Authors: Rebecca Harris & Dr. Chris Reid