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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Scarabaeoidea » Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae) » Aphodiine Dung Beetles (Aphodiinae) » Eupariini » Ataenius

Genus Ataenius

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Remarks · Works Cited

Scarabaeidae, lateral-ventral - Ataenius

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 Aphodiinae (Aphodiine Dung Beetles)

Tribe Eupariini

Genus Ataenius

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Recently split into a number of genera(1)

Explanation of Names

Ataenius Harold 1867

Numbers

50 spp. in our area, ~190 in the New World, >300 worldwide(2)(3)

Identification

key to spp. in(4), also see (5)

Range

worldwide, incl. most of NA; in our area, markedly more diverse in e. & s. US(2)

Habitat

organic accumulations along margins of open sands, leaf litter, ant/packrat nests, old mammal dung, etc. A. spretulus, the 'black turfgrass ataenius', is reported as a turf pest(2)

Food

Mostly detritivores, some specialize on dung(6)

Remarks

common at lights(2)

Works Cited

1.	Checklist and Nomenclatural Authority File of the Scarabaeoidea of the Nearctic Realm. Version 4. Andrew B. T. Smith. 2009. Electronically published, Ottawa, Canada. 97 pp.

2.	Skelley P.E. (2008) Aphodiinae. In: Generic guide to New World scarab beetles

3.	Checklist and Nomenclatural Authority File of the Scarabaeoidea of the Nearctic Realm

4.	Ataenius, Aphotaenius, and Pseudataenius of the United States and Canada (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae) Oscar L. Cartwright. 1974. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, No. 154.

5.	The New World species of Ataenius Harold, 1867. V. Revision of the A. strigatus-group (Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae: Eupariini) Stebnicka Z T., Lago P. K. 2005. Insecta Mundi 19: 55‒83.

6.	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.

Contributed by Phillip Harpootlian on 18 March, 2005 - 6:57am
Additional contributions by Bbarnd, Mike Quinn, v belov
Last updated 18 November, 2021 - 11:01pm

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