Coprini is a
tribe
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 confli ...
of
scarab beetles
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 ...
, in the
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 ...
subfamily (
Scarabaeinae
The scarab beetle subfamily Scarabaeinae consists of species collectively called true dung beetles. Most of the beetles of this subfamily feed exclusively on dung. However, some may feed on decomposing matter including carrion, decaying fruits a ...
). Scholtz et al.
describe them as tunnellers that are shiny black, of moderate to large size (9–30 mm long) and with a strongly convex shape. They also, however state that the grouping based on these characteristics has little phylogenetic validity, and the placement of several genera in this and related tribes is likely to change.
Taxonomy
This tribe comprises more than 900 species in 21 genera:
[
]
Genera
These genera belong to the tribe Coprini:[
* '' Canthidium'' Erichson, 1847
* '' Catharsius'' Hope, 1837 (Africa and Asia)
* '' Chalcocopris'' Burmeister, 1846 (Brazil)
* '' Copridaspidus'' Boucomont, 1920 (Africa)
* '' Copris'' Geoffroy, 1762 (cosmopolitan, introduced into Australia and Hawaii)
* '' Coptodactyla'' Burmeister, 1846 (Australia, Melanesia)
* '' Dichotomius'' Hope, 1838 (southern USA to South America)
* '' Heliocopris'' Hope, 1837 (tropical Africa, southeast Asia)
* '' Holocanthon'' Martínez & Pereira, 1956
* '' Holocephalus'' Hope, 1838 (southern Brazil, Paraguay)
* '' Isocopris'' Pereira et Martínez (Brazil)
* '' Litocopris'' Waterhouse, 1891 (Africa)
* '' Macroderes'' Westwood, 1876 (South Africa)
* '' Metacatharsius'' Paulian, 1939 (Africa)
* '' Ontherus'' Erichson, 1847 (Central and South America)
* '' Parachorius'' Harold, 1873
* '' Pseudocopris'' Ferreira, 1960 (Angola, Congo, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe)
* '' Pseudopedaria'' Felsche, 1904 (tropical Africa)
* '' Synapsis'' Bates, 1868
* '' Thyregis'' Blackburn, 1904 (Middle and southeast Asia)
* '' Xinidium'' Harold, 1869 (South Africa)
]
Ecology
Most species are nocturnal. They are predominantly coprophagous
Coprophagia () or coprophagy () is the consumption of feces. The word is derived from the grc, κόπρος , "feces" and , "to eat". Coprophagy refers to many kinds of feces-eating, including eating feces of other species (heterospecifics), of ...
, but some are necrophagous
Scavengers are animals that consume dead organisms that have died from causes other than predation or have been killed by other predators. While scavenging generally refers to carnivores feeding on carrion, it is also a herbivorous feeding b ...
. Dung is rapidly buried in shallow tunnels and then used for nest construction in deeper tunnels.
References
External links
*
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4036531
Scarabaeinae