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How to use the Keys
How to tell if your
beetle is a dung
beetle
References
Glossary
The importance of
Dung Beetles
Acknowledgements
Onitis alexis
Distribution
Africa south of the Sahara and southern Europe.
Introduced between 1973 and 1984 in New South Wales, Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Now established in all these states, and with a wide distribution across NSW.
Description
Total length 15-20mm. Pronotum dark brown, some with a coppery or green metallic sheen, elytra lighter brown.
Head: Clypeal margin without teeth, small nick in frontoclypeal margin. Small tubercle medially, and a low transverse keel. Dorsal part of eyes large.
Prothorax: With lateral depressions, surface coarsely punctate, shiny, glabrous.
Elytra: Striae distinct, impressed, with large punctures. Intervals shagreened, intervals 8 & 9 dorsally flattened.
Legs: Hind femur with a single sharp spine.
Abdomen: Pygidium strongly margined, shagreened, with very short setae.
Sexual dimorphism
Female: No spine on hind femur.
References
Tyndale-Biscoe, M. (1990) Common Dung Beetles in Pastures of South-eastern Australia. CSIRO Division of Entomology.
Copyright © Australian Museum 2016
Authors: Rebecca Harris & Dr. Chris Reid