Onthophagus centricornis

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Onthophagus centricornis
Onthophagus centricornis (Fabricius, 1798) male (13866690085).png
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Infraorder: Scarabaeiformia
Family: Scarabaeidae
Genus: Onthophagus
Species:
O. centricornis
Binomial name
Onthophagus centricornis
(Fabricius, 1798)
Synonyms
  • Copris centricornisFabricius, 1798
  • Copris luteipennisWiedemann, 1823
  • Onthophagus minutusMotschulsky, 1858
  • Onthophagus promissusHarold, 1868

Onthophagus centricornis is a species of dung beetle found in India, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. [1] [2] It is a small arboreal dung beetle inhabited in both dry and wet forests. [3]

Description

The species has a small body, broadly oval in shape and moderately convex, with an average length of about 2.5 to 3 mm. The male is smaller than female. Its body is black with a coppery lustre on the head and pronotum, and its elytra, legs, antennae, and mouthparts are orange or yellowish in color. The head is short and broad, with sparsely punctured clypeus. The pronotum is evenly, moderately strongly and closely punctured, the elytra are finely striate with flat intervals, and the pygidium is finely and not closely punctured. The beetle's metasternum possesses very few punctures in its middle, but more to its sides. Its legs are short, particularly the middle and hind tibia. They have eight segments in their antennae.

Males have a short, straight horn on their heads, and robust front tibia with four protruding teeth. In the female, the clypeus is separated from the forehead by a strongly curved carina. [4]

Adults are frequently found from cow dung. [5]

References

  1. Kakkar, Nidhi; Gupta, Sanjeev K. (2010). "Diversity and seasonal fluctuations in dung beetle (Coleoptera) community in Kurukshetra, India" . Entomological Research. 40 (3): 189–192. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5967.2010.00275.x. S2CID   85732657 . Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  2. "Inventory of scarabaeid beetles (Coleoptera) from Madhya Pradesh, India". Zoo's Print Journal, 2000. Retrieved 2021-07-22.
  3. Sabu, Thomas K.; Nithya, Sathiandran (March 2016). "Comparison of the Arboreal Dung Beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) of the Wet and Dry Forests of the Western Ghats, India" . The Coleopterists Bulletin. 70: 144–148. doi:10.1649/072.070.0121. S2CID   87910780 . Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  4. "Onthophagus centricornis (Fabricius, 1798)". India Biodiversity Portal. Retrieved 2021-07-23.
  5. "Succession and community structure in dung-beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) in ageing cattle dung". Journal of Entomological Research, 1998. Retrieved 2021-07-22.