Coprini
| Coprini | |
|---|---|
.jpg) | |
| Male Copris sacontala | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Scarabaeidae |
| Subfamily: | Scarabaeinae |
| Tribe: | Coprini Kolbe, 1805 |
Coprini is a tribe of scarab beetles, in the dung beetle subfamily (Scarabaeinae). Scholtz et al.[1] describe them as tunnellers that are shiny black, of moderate to large size (9-30 mm long) and with a strongly convex shape. They also, however state that the grouping based on these characteristics has little phylogenetic validity, and the placement of several genera in the Canthonini, Coprini and Dichotomiini is likely to change.[1]
Taxonomy
This tribe comprises about 400 species in ten genera:[1]
- Catharsius - Afrotropical and Oriental
- Copridaspidus - endemic to moist Afrotropics
- Copris - Afrotropical, Palaearctic, Oriental, Nearctic, and northern Neotropical regions
- Coptodactyla - endemic to Australia
- Litocopris - endemic to moist Afrotropics
- Metacatharsius - Africa savanna and arid southern Palearctic
- Pseudocopris - endemic to moist Afrotropics
- Pseudopedaria - endemic to moist Afrotropics
- Synapsis - Palaearctic and Oriental
- Thyregis - endemic to Australia
Ecology
Most species are nocturnal. They are predominantly coprophagous, but some are necrophagous. Dung is rapidly buried in shallow tunnels and then used for nest construction in deeper tunnels.[1]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coprini. |
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Wikispecies has information related to: Coprini |
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.