''Aphodius'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

of beetles in the family

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 35,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change. Several groups formerly tre ...

. In most species both the adults and

larvae A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect developmental biology, development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typical ...

are coprophagous (dung feeding) although some species have

herbivorous A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

or saprophagous larvae. ''Aphodius'' species typically dominate

dung beetle Dung beetles are beetles that feed on feces. All species of dung beetle belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea, most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scara ...

communities in north temperate ecosystems. Most species are functionally classified as endocoprids, also known as dwellers, because the larvae live and feed within the dung pat itself. With a discovery of an earlier published version by Hellwig, the correct citation for this genus is now: ''Aphodius'' Hellwig, 1798 (p. 101; 24 January). Type species by subsequent designation by Latreille (1810): ''Scarabaeus fimetarius'' Linnaeus, 1758.ALONSO-ZARAZAGA, M.A. & KRELL, F.T. 2011. Change of authorship of ''Aphodius'' and ''Oryctes'' to Hellwig, 1798 (Insecta: Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). Zootaxa 3060: 67–68. https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.3060.1.5/20827

Species

These 44 species belong to the genus ''Aphodius'', including 21 extinct species. * '' Aphodius beloni'' Mulsant & Godart, 1879 * '' Aphodius calichromus'' Balthasar, 1932 * '' Aphodius cardinalis'' Reitter, 1892 * '' Aphodius clypeatus'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1821 * '' Aphodius coniugatus'' (Panzer, 1795) * '' Aphodius corallifer'' Koshantschikov, 1913 * '' Aphodius crux'' Wiedemann, 1823 * '' Aphodius elegans'' Allibert, 1847 * '' Aphodius fasciger'' Harold, 1881 * '' Aphodius fimetarius'' (Linnaeus, 1758) * '' Aphodius foetidus'' (Herbst, 1783) * '' Aphodius guangdongensis'' Maté, 2008 * '' Aphodius irregularis'' Westwood, 1839 * '' Aphodius marginatus'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1842 * '' Aphodius micros'' Walker, 1871 * '' Aphodius minatorius'' Péringuey, 1908 * '' Aphodius pedellus'' (Degeer, 1774) * '' Aphodius pedrosi'' Wollaston, 1854 * '' Aphodius plasoni'' Käufel, 1914 * '' Aphodius reginae'' Král, 1997 * '' Aphodius spadix'' Schmidt, 1916 * '' Aphodius swaneticus'' Reitter, 1892 * '' Aphodius thoracicus'' Fischer von Waldheim, 1842 * † '' Aphodius aboriginalis'' Wickham, 1912 * † '' Aphodius anteactus'' Krell, 2000 * † '' Aphodius bosniaskii'' Handlirsch, 1907 * † '' Aphodius brevipennis'' Heer, 1862 * † '' Aphodius charauxi'' Piton, 1940 * † '' Aphodius cretaceous'' Nikolajev, 2008 * † '' Aphodius florissantensis'' Wickham, 1911 * † '' Aphodius granarioides'' Wickham, 1913 * † '' Aphodius helvolus'' Statz, 1952 * † '' Aphodius inundatus'' Wickham, 1914 * † '' Aphodius krantzi'' Heyden & Heyden, 1866 * † '' Aphodius laminicola'' Wickham, 1910 * † '' Aphodius mediaevus'' Wickham, 1914 * † '' Aphodius meyeri'' Heer, 1847 * † '' Aphodius praeemptor'' Wickham, 1913 * † '' Aphodius precursor'' Horn, 1876 * † '' Aphodius schlickumi'' Statz, 1952 * † '' Aphodius senex'' Wickham, 1914 * † '' Aphodius shoshonis'' Wickham, 1912 * † '' Aphodius theobaldi'' Krell, 2000 * † '' Aphodius vectis'' Krell, 2019 The species of the following genera were formerly classified in ''Aphodius'': : '' Acrossus'' Mulsant, 1842 : '' Agoliinus'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Alloblackburneus'' Bordat, 2009 : '' Ballucus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Blackburneus'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Calamosternus'' Motschulsky, 1859 : '' Caligodorus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Cephalocyclus'' Dellacasa et al., 1998 : '' Chilothorax'' Motschulsky, 1859 : '' Cinacanthus'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Coelotrachelus'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Colobopterus'' Mulsant, 1842 : '' Cryptoscatomaseter'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Dellacasiellus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Dialytodius'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Drepanocanthoides'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Eupleurus'' Mulsant, 1842 : '' Flaviellus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Geomyphilus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Haroldiellus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Hornosus'' Dellacasa, Dellacasa & Gordon, 2015 : '' Irrasinus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Labarrus'' Mulsant & Rey, 1869 : '' Lechorodius'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Liothorax'' Motschulsky, 1859 : '' Luxolinus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Maculaphodius'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Melinopterus'' Mulsant, 1842 : '' Mendidius'' Harold, 1868 : '' Merogyrus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Neotrichonotulus'' Dellacasa et al., 2004 : '' Nialaphodius'' Kolbe, 1908 : '' Orodaliscoides'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Oscarinus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Otophorus'' Mulsant, 1842 : '' Oxyomoides'' Dellacasa et al., 2016 : '' Pardalosus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Phaeaphodius'' Reitter, 1892 : '' Planolinellus'' Dellacasa & Dellacasa, 2005 : '' Planolinoides'' Dellacasa & Dellacasa, 2005 : '' Planolinus'' Mulsant & Rey, 1869 : '' Pseudagolius'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Rugaphodius'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Scabrostomus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Schaefferellus'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Setodius'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Stenotothorax'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Strigodius'' Gordon & Skelley, 2007 : '' Tetraclipeoides'' Schmidt, 1913 : '' Teuchestes'' Mulsant, 1842 : '' Trichaphodioides'' Paulian, 1942 : '' Trichonotulus'' Bedel, 1911

References

* Scarabaeidae Scarabaeidae genera Taxa named by Johann Karl Wilhelm Illiger {{Scarabaeidae-stub