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How to tell if your
beetle is a dung
beetle
References
Glossary
The importance of
Dung Beetles
Acknowledgements
Sisyphus spinipes
Distribution
Throughout central and eastern Africa, from Abyssinia to South Africa.
Introduced to Australia between 1972 and 1978 in New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory. Now established in northern New South Wales and Queensland.
Description
Total length (9-11mm). Colour dark brown. Broadly oval, barrel-shaped.
Head: 4 clypeal teeth and 2 teeth at junction of frons and clypeus. Dorsal part of eyes narrow.
Prothorax: Surfaces dull, covered with short bristles, impunctate.
Elytra: Intervals flat, impunctate, with short bristles.
Sterna: Metasternum very transverse (mid coxae widely separated), impunctate, lateral lobes with setae.
Legs: Fore tibiae with 3 large teeth on the outer edge, and a single tooth in middle of inner edge. Mid and hind tibiae with longitudinal ridges. Mid femur and tibiae with small tooth on inner edge. Hind femur and tibiae elongated, each about 2 times as long as the length of the mid femora or tibiae.
Abdomen: Sternites normal. Pygidium elongated, without grooves or depressions, with numerous setae.
Sexual dimorphism
Female: No external differences other than the last abdominal sternite.
References
Cassis, G. & Weir, T.A. (1992) Scarabaeinae. pp 106-173. In: Houston, W.W.K. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea. Canberra: AGPS Vol. 9.
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