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Genus Phanaeus - Rainbow Scarabs

Rainbow Scarab - Phanaeus vindex - male Phanaeus igneus - female One of my favorites - Phanaeus vindex - male Rainbow scarab - Phanaeus vindex - male Didn't save in time :( - Phanaeus igneus - female Rainbow Scarab - Phanaeus vindex - female Phanaeus amithaon - male Rainbow Scarab - Phanaeus
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
Superfamily Scarabaeoidea
Family Scarabaeidae (Scarab Beetles)
Subfamily Scarabaeinae (Dung Beetles)
Tribe Phanaeini
Genus Phanaeus (Rainbow Scarabs)
Explanation of Names
Phanaeus Macleay 1819
'light bearer'
Numbers
6‒7 spp. in our area, >80 total(1)
Identification
See (2) • key to SC species in (3)
Range
primarily neotropical; in our area:
P. adonis Cameron Co., TX
P. amithaon s.-c. AZ (low to mid elevations)
P. difformis s. midwestern US, most common in coastal TX
P. igneus coastal se US (VA‒FL‒LA)(2)
P. quadridens NM, se.AZ (mid-altitude)
P. triangularis se.US barely into e.TX
P. texensis TX (treated by most as a ssp. on the previous)
P. vindex US west to WY‒AZ
Food
mammalian dung(4)
Life Cycle
Adults of P. vindex excavate a cavity and form a dung ball underneath a dung mass (See Univ. of Nebraska page.)
Works Cited
1.Catalogue of Life
2.Revision of Phanaeus MacLeay, A New World genus of scarabaeine dung beetles
Edmonds, W.D. 1994. 1994. Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Contributions to Science 443.
3.Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of South Carolina
Phillip J. Harpootlian. 2001. Clemson University Public Service.
4.American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). 2002. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, FL.