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Genus Odonteus
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Scarab, Stag and Bess Beetles)
Family Geotrupidae (Earth-Boring Dung Beetles)
Subfamily Bolboceratinae
Genus Odonteus
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes Odonteus Samouelle, 1819 (not Agassiz, 1838, a fish genus - replaced with Odonteobolca Krell, 1991)
Odontaeus Dejean, 1821 (now typically treated as subsequent misspelling of Odonteus Samouelle, 1819)
Bolboceras, of authors (after Cartwright, 1953) - See ICZN opinion 2138, BZN Volume 63, Part 1, 31 March 2006 in responce to Case 3097. [by affixing the type as S. quadridens (as opposed to S. mobilicornis (= armiger)), Bolboceras Kirby, 1819 becomes a senior syn. of Indobolbus Nikolajev, 1979 - mostly Asian spp.]
The NA fauna was placed in the genus Odontaeus until transferred to Bolboceras by Cartwright (1953) and now, per ICZN, is moved to Odonteus, which is already well established in Europe. Numbers Ten North American spp. (see below), one from Europe; O. armiger (Scopoli, 1772) (type sp.), O. orientalis Mittal, 1998 from India and the recently described O. gandhara Carpaneto & Mignani, 2005 from Pakistan.
Odonteus alabamensis Wallis 1929 - Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina
Odonteus cornigerus (Melsheimer 1844) - NE US, south to North Carolina
Odonteus darlingtoni Wallis 1928 - SE US
Odonteus falli Wallis 1928 - Canada, E. US
Odonteus filicornis (Say 1823) - Canada, US: Missouri, Nebraska, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Mississippi, Texas
Odonteus floridensis Wallis 1928 - Florida
Odonteus liebecki Wallis 1928 - Canada, E. US
Odonteus obesus LeConte 1859 - Canada, W. US
Odonteus simi Wallis 1928 - E. US
Odonteus thoracicornis Wallis 1928 - Florida to Iowa, Kansas, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas
Size 5-10 mm, typically 6-9 mm Identification Medium-sized earth-boring beetles. Eyes completely divided by canthus. Sexual dimorphism usually obvious, males often with prominent horn. See Harpootlian (1) for key of this versus related genera. Identification of species is difficult, and often requires examination of genitalia. Range Mostly east of Texas/Nebraska in North America, one strictly western. Season Late spring and late summer to fall. May and July-October (B. liebecki, South Carolina), April-May, September-November (B. thoracicornis, South Carolina). Life Cycle Adults dig burrows and provision with organic matter (e.g., dung, humus). The same burrow may contain eggs, larvae, pupae, and adults at the same time. Presumably overwinter as adults at times, given the two seasons of occurrence.
Print References Wallis, J.B. 1928. Revision of the genus Odontaeus, Dej. Canadian Entomologist 60:119-128; 151-156; 168-176.
Wallis, J.B. 1929. A new species of Odontaeus, Dej. Canadian Entomologist 61:239-241.
Brimley 1938., p. 201, lists four species ( Odontaeus) for North Carolina (2)
Cartwright, O.L. 1953. Scarabaeid beetles of the genus Bradycinetulus and closely related genera in the United States. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 103(3318):95-120; 4 pl. [note: moves our fauna from Odontaeus to Bolboceras - found overlooked, and evidently invalid type designation by Curtis]
Howden, H.F. 1955. The biology and taxonomy of North American beetles of the subfamily Geotrupinae with revisions of the genera Bolbocerosoma, Eucanthus, Geotrupes, and Peltotrupes. Proceedings of the United States National Museum 104(3342):151-319, 18 pl. [note: this paper refers you to the Wallis works for ID purposes, adds some notes and new records]
Harpootlian, pp. 53-54, figs. 63, 65-74, lists four species ( Bolboceras) for South Carolina: alabamensis, darlingtoni, liebecki, and thoracicornis (1)
Sikes, p. 120, lists three species ( Bolboceras) from Rhode Island: cornigerus, filicornis, and liebecki. (3)
Internet References Insects of Quebec--photo of specimen of B. liebecki plus date, location, comments in French
Great Smoky Mountains National Park--Scarabaeidae Checklist, lists four species
North Carolina State University Entomology Collection lists 4 species for that state, with number pinned: cornigerus (1), darlingtoni (9), filicornis (1), liebecki (3), and thoracicornis (3).
distribution in Canada; PDF doc list of provinces for 4 species (J. McNamara, Scarabaeidae, in Checklist of Beetles of Canada and Alaska)
Works Cited | 4. | The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska
By Brett C. Ratcliffe & M.J. Paulsen | |
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![could it be? - Family Ochodaeidae - Sand-loving Scarab Beetles [30] - Odonteus - female](http://bugguide.net/images/cache/Q0P0H0203Q0Q1RFKBRYKBR7QK080TQI09R70ARI0OQG03Q70YQW000KQZ0SQ9RLQOQX0BRG0OQI0URSQJR20S0XQ.jpg "could it be? - Family Ochodaeidae - Sand-loving Scarab Beetles [30] - Odonteus - female")
