Coprophanaeus


Coprophanaeus is a genus in the family Scarabaeidae. The genus is almost entirely Neotropical, with a single species, C. pluto, ranging into southernmost Texas in the United States. They are medium-sized to large beetles, with the South American C. ensifer and C. lancifer sometimes exceeding in length, making these two some of the largest dung beetles in the world and the largest in the Americas. They often have a horn on the head, and are typically a bright metallic color, most often blue or green, or black. These diurnal or crepuscular beetles are excellent diggers and good fliers.
Although part of the true dung beetle subfamily Scarabaeinae, adult and young Coprophanaeus primarily feed on carrion, but many species may also feed on feces. They are paracoprids, meaning that adults dig tunnels into the soil under the food source and move parts of the food source to a nest chamber where the eggs are laid. Because of their feeding on carrion, they are of interest to forensic entomology.

Species

Coprophanaeus is divided into three subgenera: Coprophanaeus, Megaphanaeus and Metallophanaeus, but it doubtful that the first and last of these are monophyletic.
The genus includes the following species:Coprophanaeus abas Coprophanaeus acrisius Coprophanaeus bellicosus Coprophanaeus bonariensis Coprophanaeus boucardi Coprophanaeus callegarii Arnaud, 2002 Coprophanaeus caroliae Edmonds, 2008 Coprophanaeus cerberus Coprophanaeus chiriquensis Coprophanaeus christophorowi Coprophanaeus conocephalus Coprophanaeus corythus Coprophanaeus cyanescens Coprophanaeus dardanus Coprophanaeus degallieri Arnaud, 1997 Coprophanaeus ensifer Coprophanaeus gamezi Arnaud, 2002 Coprophanaeus gephyra Kohlmann & Solís, 2012Coprophanaeus gilli Arnaud, 1997 Coprophanaeus horus Coprophanaeus ignecinctus Coprophanaeus jasius Coprophanaeus lancifer Coprophanaeus magnoi Arnaud, 2002 Coprophanaeus milon Coprophanaeus morenoi Arnaud, 1982 Coprophanaeus ohausi Coprophanaeus parvulus Coprophanaeus pecki Howden & Young, 1981 Coprophanaeus pertyi Coprophanaeus pessoai Coprophanaeus pluto Coprophanaeus punctatus Coprophanaeus saphirinus Coprophanaeus solisi Arnaud, 1997 Coprophanaeus spitzi Coprophanaeus suredai Arnaud, 1996 Coprophanaeus telamon