These are actually a sp. of a Florida endemic genus - Peltotrupes. Only two species - P. youngi & profundus. Very good. It was assumed that they couldn't fly, evidently they can, but don't often. Now we need Mycotrupes!

for everything. The larger one flew in the night before, landed upside down on a freezer, it was put out in the sand, next morning two of them on the floor on their backs, found another one when I moved a box, it had crawled under, but was not living, is this the time for mating? I have an image of the smaller one with what I thought was it's genitalia out.

Yes, this is the season for these. Typically active above ground only after a drenching rain. These are restricted to sand scrub habitat and dig deep.

wow, thats cool, i've actually never heard about that. do you study the family in particular?

Certainly my favorite group. The flared elytral margins are a reasonably diagnostic character - and only Florida, of course. This is probably P. profundus.

on the link, with mycotrupes, two are rare, the other threatened, I wonder how likely it would be that I will ever get the chance to see one.

Peltotrupes spp. are considered 'rare'. You'll probably not see Mycotrupes where you're at - the sp. around Gainesville can be locally very common. A winter group. They come out after rains during Fall-Spring.

Please, give me a key to profundus/youngi. I have youngi, but I want to differ from profundus.

ya they do seem to have all the really cool insects. I like geotrupes, because they all seem to have a really smooth and round body.