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Photo#47879
Geotrupes splendidus

Geotrupes splendidus
7 km east of Paw Paw, Morgan County, West Virginia, USA
August 26, 2000
Size: 18 mm
Pitfall trap in wooded ravine baited with fermenting molasses.

ID tips
ID'd with the help of Phillip Harpootlian. Sutural striae end at the scutelum which excludes G. hornii and G. balyi. Punctate striae exclude G. semiopacus. Body is not quite as broad as the almost circular G. egeriei. Blackburnii often has attractive bronzing or subtle blue and green iridescence but is never as "splendid" as the G. splendidus pictured here. However, these colors are variable and I am not sure how to separate a brightly colored blackburnii from a dull splendidus. In my small collection, blackburnii tends to be a bit more elongate than splendidus (i.e., slendidus is somewhat intermediate in shape between egeriei and blackburnii) but I do not know if this is always true.

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