Infraorder Scarabaeiformia Scientific name Geotrupidae Order Beetle | Higher classification Scarabaeoidea Rank Family | |
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Lower classifications Geotrupes, Geotrupes stercorarius, Lethrus, Minotaur beetle | ||
Dung beetle geotrupidae mestkever just outside 7
Geotrupidae (from Greek geos, earth, and trypetes, borer) is a family of beetles in the order Coleoptera. They are commonly called earth-boring dung beetles. Most excavate burrows in which to lay their eggs. They are typically detritivores, provisioning their nests with leaf litter (often moldy), but are occasionally coprophagous, similar to dung beetles. The eggs are laid in or upon the provision mass and buried, and the developing larvae feed upon the provisions. The burrows of some species can exceed 2 metres in depth.
Contents
A few species communicate by stridulation (rubbing body parts together to make sounds).
Classification
They were originally classified as the subfamily Geotrupinae in the family Scarabaeidae before being elevated to a family. Traditionally the dor beetle family Bolboceratidae was included (as the subfamily Bolboceratinae) on the basis of the number of antenna segments, but examination of a different set of characteristics prompted Scholtz & Browne (1995) to elevate Bolboceratidae to a family.
The family has more than 600 species in about 30 genera in three subfamilies.
