Onthophagus gazella

Onthophagus gazella (common names: gazella scarab, brown dung beetle[1]) is a species of scarab beetle.[1][2] It belongs to the subgenus Digitonthophagus, which may also be treated as a genus.[1][3] There has been some confusion regarding the application of the name.[4]

Onthophagus gazella
Male
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Phylum:
Class:
Order:
Family:
Genus:
Species:
O. gazella
Binomial name
Onthophagus gazella
(Fabricius, 1787)
Synonyms

Scarabaeus gazella Fabricius, 1787
Digitonthophagus gazella (Fabricius, 1787)

Its native distribution is Afro-Asian. It has been introduced to many other parts of the world in order to help remove cattle dung from pastures, with some introductions leading to naturalized populations.[4][2]

References

  1. "Digitonthophagus gazella - Gazelle Scarab". Bugguide. Iowa State University. 2004–2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  2. Fincher, G. T.; Stewart, T. B.; Hunter, J. S. , III (1983). "The 1981 Distribution of Onthophagus gazella Fabricius from releases in Texas and Onthophagus taurus Schreber from an unknown release in Florida (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae)". The Coleopterists Bulletin. 37 (2): 159–163. JSTOR 4008007.
  3. Philips, T. Keith (11 April 2016). "Phylogeny of the Oniticellini and Onthophagini dung beetles (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) from morphological evidence". ZooKeys. 579: 9–57. doi:10.3897/zookeys.579.6183. PMC 4829968. PMID 27110200.
  4. Génier, F.; Davis, A.L.V. (19 January 2017). "Digitonthophagus gazella auctorum: an unfortunate case of mistaken identity for a widely introduced species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onthophagini)". Zootaxa. 4221 (4): 497–500. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4221.4.8. Retrieved 5 May 2017.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.