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A Bug for Dan
- Thread starter John53
- Start date
Very nice. Love the pattern and colors. It is also nice when they are so distinct ID becomes easier.
I'm more jealous.
There are some pretty small species. Quite a size range actually.
I think everyone on the east coast of Aus could identify them.
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I was with this redhead in a cornfield once, but I couldn't convince her to pollinate with me.
I suppose if they were all that easy to ID, there wouldn't be any challenge.
No hair, just a read head?
Indeed it is. It has enough distinction to aid ID, but I am not sure yet what species group it might be in.
Someone on the Aus entomology page ID'ed it as Onthophagus dandalu - Wikipedia
I'm always surprised to find out how little information there is on the internet about most species of bugs.
That's great. Not to blow my own horn, but I was leaning to a possible onthophagine, but considering the possibility of a canthonine.
Looking at your picture, I can see the pronotal horn that I completely missed in my original examination of the photo. There is a fairly common species of Onthophagus in Missouri that has a similar appearance of shape with an often larger horn, known as Onthophagus hecate. I have tons of them in my collection. You can get them in pitfall trapping. in woodlands and edges. They don't have the metallic green pronotum, but the same general appearance. Horn development varies and males are designated major with full horn expression and minor with reduced horn expression. There is a fair amount of work done on horn polyphenism in this genus by a couple of guys named Moczek and Emlen.
I got a couple more out of the pool today. I think they're the same species but lack the metallic green. I'll check the pics tonight.
I wish could be down there collecting from the sound of it. That would be awesome! I've got to save my pennies and save my dimes.
Welcome anytime, we have 2 spare rooms we never go in to. I think this one is the same as the other one, just not as iridescent.
Thank you. Getting there may be difficult, but it may be that getting rid of me, might be even more difficult.
Another Onthophagus maybe. How big is this?
Exact same size as the first.
Onthophagus vary in size, but they don't tend to much over a centimeter. They are a very speciose group too. Something like 2,000 described species globally. From what I'm reading, Australia has at least twice as many species as the US.
I'm still thinking you are right and it is another specimen of Onthophagus.
Dung beetles are big business here. I once spoke with a woman who did a lot of work with them for the CSIRO (Government agency for scientific research).