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Genus Phanaeus - Rainbow Scarabs

Rainbow Dung Beetle - Minor Male - Phanaeus vindex - male

Phanaeus quadridens? - Phanaeus quadridens - female

Phanaeus quadridens - Phanaeus quadridens - male

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.

Contributed by Cotinis on 18 May, 2004 - 5:58am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Phillip Harpootlian, Mike Quinn, Dave Almquist, v belov, Tyler Hedlund
Last updated 5 February, 2024 - 6:15pm

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