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Photo#47883
Geotrupes hornii

Geotrupes hornii
Tuckahoe State Park, 38.9833, -75.9296, Caroline County, Maryland, USA
July 23, 2005
Size: 18 mm
Collected at UV and Hg vapor lights.
Please note: you must obtain a permit to collect insects in Maryland State Parks and Forests.

Moved
Moved to new species page.

ID tips
ID'd with the help of Phillip Harpootlian. Punctate elytral striae exclude G. semiopacus. G. blackburnii and G. splendidus have the sutural striae ending at the scutelum as compared to G. hornii and G. balyi which have their sutural striae bend and wrap around the scutelum. Also, the medial impressed pronotal line of hornii and balyi tends to be more pronounced than in the other members of the genus although this feature is not so obvious in this photo. Finally, the antennal clubs of hornii and balyi tend to be light brown as opposed to dark brown or black. Hornii differs from balyi in that balyi always has some blue, green, or purple iridescence while hornii is pure anthracite black.

 
G. egeriei?
This comment has been remarkably helpful to me as I've tried to learn the characteristics used to identify Southern Appalachian Geotrupes species. If you don't mind answering a quick question, how would you distinguish G. egeriei from this group of species?

 
Geotrupes ID tips
Sure. All of the punctures (aka pits) on the surface of Geotrupes egeriei are colored brilliant metallic blue. That character is fairly obvious to see with good lighting. G.egeriei tends to be more of a coastal plain species - so I'm not sure if you would find it up in the mountains? However, you should be able to find balyi, blackburnii, hornii, semiopacus, and splendidus. And don't forget to keep an eye out for ulkei!! That last one is restricted to the southern Appalachians and is definitely the hardest to find as it does not come to light or various bait traps. But, if you are lucky you can see them with a flashlight crawling around through the leaf litter at night.

 
Thanks!
I really appreciate your help! Outside of Scarabaeinae and a few of the more showy taxa, it's hard to find identification resources; even for Geotrupes (which I thought was a taxon held in high regard by insect enthusiasts). I hope I can find G. ulkei as well; the high-elevation bog I will be surveying this summer seems to exhibit a characteristic habitat supportive of mountain endemics.

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