Gymnopleurini


Gymnopleurini is a tribe of scarab beetles, in the dung beetle subfamily, but it may now be combined with the Scarabaeini. The side edge of each elytron has a characteristic shape that exposed the underlying pleural sclerites. Relative to other dung beetles they are of moderate size.

Ecology

All species fly during the day. They are probably all ball-rollers: a ball is fashioned from the dung, and rolled away from it, either by a single beetle or a pair of beetles. A short tunnel is dug in the soil, and the ball is buried at the end of it. After reworking the ball, the female lays an egg in a depression in the ball, and covers it with dung. The brood is then abandoned; after hatching, larvae feed on the dung ball.

Taxonomy

There are four genera in this tribe: