Aphodiinae is a subfamily of the scarab beetle family,

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

. Members of this subfamily are known commonly as the small dung beetles and many, but not all, are

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding cha ...

s.Skelley, P. E
Aphodiinae.
Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles. University of Nebraska State Museum. 2008 Version. These beetles are found worldwide. These beetles are small scarab beetles, most less than 8 millimeters long. Many have small mandibles that are covered by a widened clypeus, the exoskeleton plate above the mouth. The feet are clawed. This is a diverse subfamily with varied life strategies and habitat types. Many species are dung beetles, which collect and feed on animal dung. Other species are

detritivore Detritivores (also known as detrivores, detritophages, detritus feeders, or detritus eaters) are heterotrophs that obtain nutrients by consuming detritus (decomposing plant and animal parts as well as feces). There are many kinds of invertebrates, ...

s or saprophages, which feed on dead matter, and some are predatory. Some are known as

inquiline In zoology, an inquiline (from Latin ''inquilinus'', "lodger" or "tenant") is an animal that lives commensally in the nest, burrow, or dwelling place of an animal of another species. For example, some organisms such as insects may live in the h ...

s, living in ant or termite nests, and some are sand-dwelling beetles. A survey of South American aphodiines found them in diverse habitat types including

temperate rainforests Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American Pac ...

, high-elevation

Andean The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...

grassland,

Patagonia Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...

steppe In physical geography, a steppe () is an ecoregion characterized by grassland plains without trees apart from those near rivers and lakes. Steppe biomes may include: * the montane grasslands and shrublands biome * the temperate grasslands, ...

, coastal

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

, and

subantarctic The sub-Antarctic zone is a region in the Southern Hemisphere, located immediately north of the Antarctic region. This translates roughly to a latitude of between 46° and 60° south of the Equator. The subantarctic region includes many islands ...

beech forest.Smith, A. B. T. and P. E. Skelley. (2007)
A review of the Aphodiinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of southern South America.
''Zootaxa'' 1458. There is not full agreement on the taxonomy of the subfamily, but some classification schemes divide it into 11

tribes The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

with about 280 genera and a total of about 3200 species worldwide.

Tribes

* Aphodiini * Corythoderini * Didactyliini * Eupariini * Odochilini * Odontolochini * Proctophanini * Psammodiini * Rhyparini * Stereomerini * Termitoderini

Gallery

Aphodius omissus omissus.jpg, '' Aphodius omissus'' Ataenius spretulus.jpg, '' Ataenius spretulus'' Dialytes monstrosus Harold, 1877 (4989956104).jpg, '' Dialytes monstrosus'' Volinus.sticticus.-.lindsey.jpg, '' Volinus sticticus'' Cartwrightia_cartwrighti_Cartwright_1967.png, '' Cartwrightia cartwrighti''

References

Scarabaeidae {{Scarabaeidae-stub