''Phanaeus'', the rainbow scarabs, 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 true dung 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 ...

(scarab beetles), ranging from the United States to northern Argentina, with the highest species richness in Mexico. Depending on species, they can inhabit a wide range of habitats, from

tropical The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

climates and deserts to rainforests. In those living in relatively arid places adults are primarily active during the wet season and those living in relatively cold places are primarily active during the summer. They are excellent diggers and good fliers. They are up to about long and most (but not all) species have bright metallic colors with males having a horn on their head and/or one or two spikes on the

pronotum The prothorax is the foremost of the three segments in the thorax of an insect, and bears the first pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the pronotum (dorsal), the prosternum (ventral), and the propleuron (lateral) on e ...

. Males of several species occur in two distinct morphs, referred to as "major" and "minor", that differ in body size and size/presence of horn/spikes.

Behavior

Both adult and young of ''Phanaeus'' are generally

coprophagous Coprophagia ( ) or coprophagy ( ) is the consumption of feces. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek "feces" and "to eat". Coprophagy refers to many kinds of feces-eating, including eating feces of other species (heterospecifics), of o ...

, feeding primarily on dung from a wide range of mammals, but they tend to prefer wet, as opposed to dry, dung. A pair of ''Phanaeus'' will tunnel in the soil below the dung to make nests where some of the dung is placed and the eggs are laid (each egg having its own, typically pear-shaped piece of dung). This means that they are paracoprids, as opposed to some other

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 ...

s that dig into or on the underside of the dung (the endocoprids) or roll dung balls overland to a tunnel elsewhere (the telecoprids); however, ''Phanaeus'' may on occasion roll or push a piece of dung some distance overland from where it was dropped to a tunnel. Because they bring the dung underground, tunneling species like ''Phanaeus'' are particularly useful for dung degradation. After the eggs have been laid the parents provides no further care for them. The development from egg to adult typically lasts a few months and adult beetles have lived for more than a year in captivity, but their lifespan is probably shorter in the wild. A tunnel with dung also serves as a temporary living quarter for a single adult or a pair and is only left once the food supply is exhausted or inedible; adults of some species will overwinter in their tunnel. Exceptions are two South American species, '' P. bispinus'' and '' P. meleagris'', that are mostly

necrophagous Necrophages are organisms that obtain nutrients by consuming decomposing dead animal biomass, such as the muscle and soft tissue of carrion, carcasses and cadaver, corpses (also known as carrion). The term derives from Greek , meaning 'dead', and ...

(certain other species may be both coprophagous and necrophagous), and the Mexican '' P. halffterorum'' that appears to be mycetophagous. In species with clearly distinct male morphs, either will pair up with a female to excavate a tunnel, but during male-male encounters a battle ensues with the major morph winning over the minor morph. Females may also fight other females over a piece of dung. In certain species where males vary clinally in appearance (no discrete morphs), like '' P. difformis'', small and hornless " sneaky" males that mate by stealth exist.

Species

''Phanaeus'' includes the following species:Biolib
/ref> * '' Phanaeus achilles'' * '' Phanaeus adonis'' * '' Phanaeus alvarengai'' * '' Phanaeus amethystinus'' * '' Phanaeus amithaon'' *

† A dagger, obelisk, or obelus is a typographical mark that usually indicates a footnote if an asterisk has already been used. The symbol is also used to indicate death (of people) or extinction (of species or languages). It is one of the mo ...

Phanaeus antiquus Phanaeus may refer to: * ''Phanaeus'' (beetle), a genus of beetles * Phanaeus (epithet), one of several epithets for the Greek god Apollo {{Disambiguation ...

'' (

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserve ...

species,

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

) * '' Phanaeus beltianus'' * '' Phanaeus bispinus'' * '' Phanaeus blackalleri'' * '' Phanaeus bordoni'' * '' Phanaeus cambeforti'' * '' Phanaeus chalcomelas'' * '' Phanaeus changdiazi'' * '' Phanaeus damocles'' * '' Phanaeus daphnis'' * '' Phanaeus dejeani'' * '' Phanaeus demon'' * '' Phanaeus difformis'' * '' Phanaeus dionysius'' * '' Phanaeus dzidoi'' * '' Phanaeus endymion'' * '' Phanaeus eximius'' * '' Phanaeus flohri'' * '' Phanaeus furiosus'' * '' Phanaeus genieri'' * '' Phanaeus halffterorum'' * '' Phanaeus haroldi'' * '' Phanaeus hermes'' * '' Phanaeus howdeni'' * '' Phanaeus igneus'' * '' Phanaeus kirbyi'' *

'' Phanaeus labreae'' (

species,

) * '' Phanaeus lecourti'' * '' Phanaeus lunaris'' * '' Phanaeus malyi'' * '' Phanaeus martinezorum'' * '' Phanaeus melampus'' * '' Phanaeus meleagris'' * '' Phanaeus melibaeus'' * '' Phanaeus mexicanus'' * '' Phanaeus nimrod'' * '' Phanaeus palaeno'' * '' Phanaeus palliatus'' * '' Phanaeus prasinus'' * '' Phanaeus pyrois'' * '' Phanaeus quadridens'' * '' Phanaeus sallei'' * '' Phanaeus scutifer'' * '' Phanaeus splendidulus'' * '' Phanaeus triangularis'' * '' Phanaeus tridens'' * '' Phanaeus wagneri'' * ''

Phanaeus vindex ''Phanaeus vindex'', also known as a rainbow scarab (like other members in its genus), is a North American species of true dung beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is found in eastern and central United States (Florida and New England to Arizo ...

'' - rainbow scarab * '' Phanaeus viridicollis'' * '' Phanaeus yecoraensis'' * '' Phanaeus zapotecus''

References

{{Scarabaeidae-stub