Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada

Species Canthon vigilans

Dung Ball - Canthon vigilans Vigilant Tumblebug - Canthon vigilans Tumblebug - Canthon vigilans Dung Beetle -? - Canthon vigilans Dung Beetle -? - Canthon vigilans Dung Beetle - Canthon vigilans Unknown Beetle - Canthon vigilans Canthon - Canthon vigilans
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 Deltochilini
Genus Canthon (Tumblebugs)
No Taxon (subgenus Canthon)
Species vigilans (Canthon vigilans)
Explanation of Names
Canthon vigilans LeConte 1858
vigilans 'watchful' (reference to the large eyes)
Size
13‒20 mm(1)
Identification
eyes large (for this genus), about half as wide as long. Clypeus toothed.
Range
e. US (ON‒MA‒FL to NE‒TX)(2)(3)(4)
Season
Mar‒Jul (and later?) in SC(1)
Food
Adults associated with dung for breeding--unclear if they feed on it.
Life Cycle
The dung ball is buried and the female oviposits on it. Adults come to lights (most Canthon do not)(1)
Works Cited
1.Scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of South Carolina
Phillip J. Harpootlian. 2001. Clemson University Public Service.
2.Checklist of beetles (Coleoptera) of Canada and Alaska. Second edition
Bousquet Y., Bouchard P., Davies A.E., Sikes D.S. 2013. ZooKeys 360: 1–402.
3.A Distributional Checklist of the Beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida
4.The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska
Brett C. Ratcliffe & M.J. Paulsen. 2008. University of Nebraska State Museum, Vol 22, 570 pp.