''Pericoptus punctatus'' is a sand scarab beetle that is endemic to New Zealand. It is a smaller and similar

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

scarab beetle species to ''

Pericoptus truncatus ''Pericoptus truncatus'' is a large sand scarab beetle. It is native to New Zealand and is found on beaches throughout New Zealand. Its Māori name is ngungutawa. The adult spends the daylight hours buried in the sand, emerging at night to fl ...

''. This beetle can be found in sandy coastal areas throughout New Zealand. The adult beetle is

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and obtains the size of approximately 16 – 22 mm in length. It normally spends the daylight hours buried under sand or vegetation such as Marram grass or driftwood. It can fly and is likely to be attracted to lights in the evening.

Taxonomy

This species was originally described by Adam White and named ''Cheiroplatys punctatus'' in ''The Zoology of the Voyage of HMS Erebus & HMS Terror'' in 1846 from a specimen collected by Percy William Earl and obtained from him during the

Ross expedition The Ross expedition was a voyage of scientific exploration of the Antarctic in 1839 to 1843, led by James Clark Ross, with two unusually strong warships, HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS ''Terror''. It explored what is now called the Ross Sea and discov ...

. The

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...

for this species was collected in

Waikouaiti Waikouaiti is a small town in East Otago, New Zealand, within the city limits of Dunedin. The town is close to the coast and the mouth of the Waikouaiti River. Today, Waikouaiti is a retail trade and servicing centre for the surrounding district ...

and is held at the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum an ...

References

External links

Image of a ''Pericoptus punctatus'' specimen.
Dynastinae Beetles of New Zealand Beetles described in 1846 Endemic fauna of New Zealand Endemic insects of New Zealand {{Dynastinae-stub