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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Scarab, Stag and Bess Beetles (Scarabaeoidea) » Earth-Boring Dung Beetles (Geotrupidae) » Geotrupinae » Geotrupes » Geotrupes semiopacus
Photo#47889
Geotrupes semiopacus - male
Copyright © 2005 Frank Guarnieri

Geotrupes semiopacus - Male
Hereford, Baltimore County, Maryland, USA
September 1, 2005
Size: 18 mm
Pitfall trap baited with human dung.
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Contributed by Frank Guarnieri on 14 April, 2006 - 8:04am

Photo techniques
No matter what I tried, the shiny dorsal surface of this beetle kept having a blurry appearance even when using manual focus. Does anyone else have trouble with this?
… Frank Guarnieri, 14 April, 2006 - 8:19am login or register to post comments

ID tips
Impunctate elytral striae separate G. semiopacus from the other members of this genus. This is an attractive species that can be either bronze, green, purple, or red. According to Phillip Harpootlian, only the males have the shovel ended/hooked anterior tibia. Question for Phil: Is this the only Geotrupes with impunctate striae in the US or just in the East? Also, I see the anterior tibial projection, but what does to hook shaped mesotarsi indicate? Is that a sex specific trait as well?
… Frank Guarnieri, 14 April, 2006 - 8:15am login or register to post comments

 
range
As you can see from the info page all of the NA spp. of Geotrupes (except cavicollis) occur in the eastern US (couple have primarily western subspecies). The odd opacus won't be easily confused with anything else.
… Phillip Harpootlian, 14 April, 2006 - 9:48am login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved to new species page.
… Matthew Roth, 14 April, 2006 - 8:15am login or register to post comments

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