''Phanaeus difformis'' is a species of
true dung beetle
The scarab beetle subfamily Scarabaeinae consists of species collectively called true dung beetles (there are also dung beetles in other subfamilies and families). Most of the beetles of this subfamily feed exclusively on dung. However, some may ...
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 ...
that is native to south-central United States and adjacent far northern Mexico.
It may
hybridize with the generally more common ''
P. vindex''.
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]
References
Further reading
* Arnett, R. H. Jr., M. C. Thomas, P. E. Skelley and J. H. Frank. (eds.). (21 June 2002). ''American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea''. CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida .
* Arnett, Ross H. (2000). ''American Insects: A Handbook of the Insects of America North of Mexico''. CRC Press.
* Richard E. White. (1983). ''Peterson Field Guides: Beetles''. Houghton Mifflin Company.
difformis
Beetles described in 1847
{{Scarabaeinae-stub