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Bolboceratid beetle
Australobolbus gayndahensis
-37.9, 145.311
Field Notes
Description:
Pink eyes visible from above (full circle) and below (partial sphere) 10mm long. This little beetle had a very rich orange-brown elytra; amazing gadgets around its head; also dense ventral setae.
Habitat:
Flew in from back yard to sample my vegetarian cooking.
Notes:
Family Bolboceratidae.... (sometimes treated as Bolboceratinae; under Geotrupidae)
"These handsome insects look like dung beetles, to which they are related. However, they have 11-segmented antennae while dung beetles (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) have 8 or 9 segments in their antennae. Australian Bolboceratids are predominantly reddish brown, while scarabaeines are mostly black. An interesting characteristic of these beetles is that they have strong asymmetric mandibles. Most species show significant sexual dimorphism, making identification of the sexes rather difficult. It is believed (recently) that they are not coprophagous, but feed on decaying plant matter, humus and fungi. They excavate deep, usually vertical burrows in the soil, pack them with fodder and lay their eggs there." - George Hangay & Paul Zborowski ]A guide to the beetles of Australia' <br>
In the national insect collections there are 3 species occurred in Victoria. They are gayndahensis, austrinus, and bihamas. I can't find any web images for any of these so will be reading texts for descriptions. It is probably worth noting the the CSIRO link in reference only has genus level for a near identical looking specimen.
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/urn:lsid:biodiversity.org.au:afd.taxon:19… <br>
Thanks Martinl for direction.
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