Onthophagus cervus explained

Onthophagus cervus, is a species of dung beetle found in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Thailand.^{[1] [2] [3]}

Description

This oval, moderately convex species has an average length of about 6 to 7 mm. Male is smaller than female. Body black and shiny. Head, pronotum, elytra and ventrum are coppery or green. Elytra covered with orange clothing. Sometimes only irregular humeral and apical spots are present. Femora, antennae, mouthparts, pygidium, and abdominal sides are yellowish, whereas dorsum is thinly clothed with minute yellow setae. Head less broad, with rounded ocular. Clypeus little produced with strongly reflexed angle. Pronotum fairly strongly, unevenly punctured. Elytra finely striate, with slightly convex intervals. Pygidium punctured intermixed with both large and small punctures. Metasternal shield with very few fine punctures. Male has little produced, truncate and very shiny clypeus. A pair of horns located behind the eyes, which are sloping backward. Pronotum rather flat, smooth, and shiny. Female has strongly and closely punctured clypeus without shine.^{[4] [5] [6] [7]}

Adults are known to spread scarabiasis, a condition of presence of beetles in the intestine of humans.^[8]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Onthophagus cervus (Fabricius, 1798) . 2021-07-23 . www.gbif.org . en.
2. Web site: Zaidi . Nurfarahin . 2020 . Diversity and abundance of Onthophagus sp. and their relationship with abiotic parameters / Nurfarahin Zaidi . 2021-07-23 . ir.uitm.edu.my . en.
3. Web site: Karyological Studies on Four Species of Laprosticti Beetles (Scarabaeidae: Coleoptera) . 2021-07-22 . Indian Journal of Entomology, 2011.
4. Web site: Onthophagus cervus (Fabricius, 1798) . 2021-07-23 . India Biodiversity Portal.
5. Life cycle of the dung beetle Onthophagus cervus (Fabricius, 1798) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in moist belts of south India ENTOMON . Entomon . 31 December 2020 . 45 . 4 . 243–252 . 2021-07-23 . en-US . 10.33307/entomon.v45i4.567. 234465809 . Prameela . K. . Thomas . K. Sabu .
6. Kharel . Bhim Prasad . Schoolmeester . Paul . Sarkar . Subhankar Kumar . 2020-04-03 . A first faunistic account on the Onthophagus Latreille, 1802 (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) of the Nadia district, West Bengal, with a preliminary checklist from India . 2021-07-23 . Check List . 16 . 2 . 361–381 . 10.15560/16.2.361. 216516340 . free .
7. Vinod . K.V. . Sabu . Thomas K. . 2007-01-01 . Species composition and community structure of dung beetles attracted to dung of gaur and elephant in the moist forests of south Western Ghats . 2021-07-23 . Journal of Insect Science . 7 . 56 . 1–14 . 10.1673/031.007.5601 . 2999456 . 20337551.
8. Strickland . C. . Roy . D. N. . July 1939 . Scarabiasis or the Presence of Beetles in the Intestine . The Indian Medical Gazette . 74 . 7 . 416–419 . 5151429 . 29011819.