Moonhorn beetle

Moonhorn beetle
Moonhorn beetle ( Copris lunaris ), ♂
Systematics
Order : Beetle (Coleoptera) Subordination : Polyphaga Family : Scarab beetle (Scarabaeidae) Subfamily : Scarabaeinae Genre : Copris Type : Moonhorn beetle
Scientific name
Copris lunaris
( Linnaeus , 1758)

Female from the side

Fig. 1: Females from the front

Fig. 2: right front rail

Fig. 3: Feminine pronotum
white: evenly rounded
green: dotted dots
blue: attachment of the posterior tooth

Fig. 4: Partial view of males

The moon horn beetle ( Copris lunaris ) is a beetle art from the family of scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae).

features

The beetles reach a size of 16 to 24 millimeters. They are compact in shape, black, with a broad, lobed back shield and the characteristic horn on the small head shield of the male animals.

In contrast to Copris hispanus , the front edge of the pronotum behind the head horn of the moonhorn beetle is not edged, but is continuously slightly convexly rounded (Fig. 3, white arrowhead). In contrast to Copris umbilicatus , which also has a uniformly convex anterior pronotum , the anterior tarsi of the moonhorn beetle have four external teeth, not three (Fig. 2). In addition, the puncture of the pronotum in the area in front of the label disappears almost or completely (Fig. 3, green arrowhead) and not only becomes slightly weaker. Furthermore, in male moonhorn beetles, a posterior tooth is formed on both sides of the pronotum, which in females is still indicated as a hump (Fig. 2, blue arrowhead). Finally, the moonhorn beetle lacks the pit that is formed on the metasternum in Copris umbilicatus .

Synonyms

• Copris belisama cabinet , 1798
• Scarabaeus bifidus Poda , 1761
• Copris castaneus Mulsant , 1842
• Copris corniculatus Mulsant , 1842
• Copris deletus Mulsant , 1842
• Scarabaeus emarginatus Olivier , 1789
• Copris gistelianus Gistl , 1857
• Copris jenisonianus Gistl , 1857
• Scarabaeus lunus cabinet , 1798
• Copris obliteratus Mulsant , 1842
• Scarabaeus quadridentatus De Geer , 1778

Occurrence

The range of the moonhorn beetle includes all of continental Europe except the northeast, occurrences in Great Britain are doubtful. In Germany it has no distribution limit, but is rarer in the north than in the south.

Way of life

The beetle is mostly found under cattle manure, less often under horse manure. The male transports the excrement, which is used as larval food, into the brood chamber, where the female forms it into balls, known as brood pears. An egg is then laid on this. About seven to eight brood pears are laid out in a brood chamber. The female monitors the development of the larvae and pupae for four months until the beetles hatch and regularly repairs the breeding pears so that they always keep their smooth surface and remain mold-free. With regular supply of good horse droppings, the beetles can reach an age of well over a year, especially males that have not yet mated. They feed on the juicy, pulpy parts between the tough fiber content of horse droppings .

The moon horn beetle is one of the strictly protected species of beetle in Germany under the Federal Species Protection Ordinance .

credentials

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k} Copris lunaris (Linnaeus 1758). Fauna Europaea, Version 1.3, April 19, 2007 , accessed on July 12, 2007 . 

Web links

Commons : Moonhorn Beetle  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files