Taxonomic revision of Mozambique dung beetle species in the genus Diastellopalpus van Lansberge, 1886 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae).

Recently, there has been growing attention paid to the Mozambican dung beetle fauna, including the description of several new species. In this paper, we revise the taxonomy of species recorded from Mozambique in the genus Diastellopalpus van Lansberge, 1886, including the description of Diastellopalpus scholtzi Daniel, Strümpher, Josso & Davis, new species. We also report a new country record for Diastellopalpus neavei (d'Orbigny, 1914).

Dung removal increases under higher dung beetle functional diversity regardless of grazing intensification.

Dung removal by macrofauna such as dung beetles is an important process for nutrient cycling in pasturelands. Intensification of farming practices generally reduces species and functional diversity of terrestrial invertebrates, which may negatively affect ecosystem services. Here, we investigate the effects of cattle-grazing intensification on dung removal by dung beetles in field experiments replicated in 38 pastures around the world.

The enigmatic dung beetle genus Stiptopodius Harold, 1871 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) revisited: new species descriptions from southern Africa.

It is proposed that the genus Stiptopodius Harold, 1871 should be subdivided into two species groups based on the shape of the lateral edge of the pronotum. Three new species are described from southern Africa: Stiptopodius peringueyi Daniel Deschodt, new species, Stiptopodius savuti Daniel Deschodt, new species, and Stiptopodius muellerae Daniel Deschodt, new species. Stiptopodius savuti new species is the first record of the genus from Botswana.

The endemic Southern African genus Epirinus Dejean, 1833 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) revisited: five new species and two new synonyms.

Five new species of Epirinus Dejean, 1833 were discovered during databasing of dung beetle collections. These are described here, as Epirinus inparrugosus Deschodt Davis, new species, Epirinus jacobsae Deschodt Davis, new species, Epirinus muellerae Deschodt Davis, new species, Epirinus pseudorelictus Deschodt Davis, new species and Epirinus schoolmeestersi Deschodt Davis, new species. Using comparisons based on morphology, we also studied the taxonomic status of five morphologically-allied, allopatric populations of Epirinus from isolated forest patches in northeast KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and eastern eSwatini (formerly Swaziland).

Defining new dung beetle tribes to resolve discrepancies between phylogeny and tribal classification in the subfamily Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae).

The monophyletic, dung beetle subfamily, Scarabaeinae, has a long history of subdivision into tribes and subtribes represented by groups of genera unified by designated characters. Various tribal names have been proposed although only 11 or 12 were considered valid in recent reviews. Three of these 12 tribes have now been invalidated due to extensive polyphyly indicated by both morphological and molecular phylogenies.

A beautiful new species of Hyalonthophagus Palestrini amp; Giacone, 1988 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), from the Northern Cape Province, South Africa.

Hyalonthophagus Palestrini Giacone, 1988, from Afrotropical savanna, is raised to generic status having been originally described as a subgenus within the genus Onthophagus Latreille, 1802. Hyalonthophagus pulcher Deschodt Davis, new species is described from the Northern Cape, South Africa. Maps are provided to show (1) the locally-restricted distribution pattern of the new species isolated from adjoining savanna in warm, dry Karoo climate to the south of the Orange River, and, (2) the disjunct distribution pattern in relation to those of three other southern African species centred in savanna to the northeast beyond areas with unsuitable climatic or ecological conditions.

New southern African species and a revalidation in the dung beetle genus Gyronotus van Lansberge, 1874 (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with an updated key.

Three new species are described in the genus Gyronotus van Lansberge, 1874 (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), from upland grasslands of South Africa. They are Gyronotus dracomontanus Deschodt Davis, new species, Gyronotus ovalis Deschodt Davis, new species and Gyronotus kearneyorum Deschodt Davis, new species. The South African coastal forest species, Gyronotus marginatus Péringuey, 1888, status revised, is removed from synonymy with Gyronotus pumilus (Boheman, 1857) and revalidated at species level.

New deltochiline (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) taxa associated with hyrax dung in arid south western Namibia.

A survey of rock hyrax dung middens along the arid escarpment of southwest Namibia has filled a gap in the range shown by members of the Byrrhidium group of flightless dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) belonging to the tribe Deltochilini. The survey discovered a new genus and species, Ausmontins jacobsi new genus and species, and a further four new species in two previously described genera, Namakwanus kamfferi new species, Namakwanus minutus new species, Namaphilus nubibmontanus new species and Namaphilus tirasmontanus new species. They are described and illustrated in the present paper.

Two new species of Garreta Janssens, 1940 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) from Southern Africa.

Two new, putative, closely-related species of dung beetles are described in the genus Garreta Janssens, 1940 (tribe Gymnopleurini). Garreta australugens new species, is known from various dung types in the southeast lowlands of Africa (validated for South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe with a probable record from Botswana). It is, here, separated at species level from its putative closest relative, Garreta lugens (Fairmaire, 1891), recorded from the lowlands of northeast Africa (validated for Kenya with additional records from Ethiopia, Somalia and Tanzania).

auctorum: an unfortunate case of mistaken identity for a widely introduced species (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Onthophagini).

At risk of committing entomological heresy, we question the identity of a dung-burying beetle species that originates from Africa and has been introduced first into Hawaii and subsequently to Australasia, North America, and South America (Fincher 1986; Edwards 2007; Noriega et al. 2010) for pasture improvement and biological control of dung-breeding flies (Waterhouse 1974; Bornemissza 1979).  Under the name Onthophagus gazella (Fabricius 1787), it was the first species selected for introduction into Australia by the CSIRO Dung Beetle Project (Bornemissza 1976; Edwards 2007).

The database of the PREDICTS (Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems) project.

The PREDICTS project-Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.

A new monotypic genus, a species synonymy and nomenclatural corrections in the arid-adapted Canthonini (Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae) from the Succulent Karoo Biome of south-western Africa.

Although it has been demonstrated that the tribe Canthonini (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) is polyphyletic, those canthonine genera occurring in arid south-western Africa apparently form a monophyletic group. In this paper we add one new monotypic genus, Drogo stalsi gen. et.

New replacement name for the species Scarabaeus (Scarabaeolus) nitidus Davis & Deschodt, 2015 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)--not an American pest.

In their review of the subgenus Scarabaeus (Scarabaeolus) Balthasar, 1965 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), Deschodt et al. (2015) described seven new species from Africa. One of these was Scarabaeus (Scarabaeolus) nitidus Davis & Deschodt, known by only twelve specimens from Botswana.

A new synonymy in the fidius group of Copris Müller 1764 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) and a new species from the highland grasslands of South Africa.

The fidius group constitutes the basal clade in a phylogeny of the Afrotropical members of the genus, Copris Müller, 1764. In this paper we describe Copris crassus Deschodt and Davis as a new species in this group. We also demonstrate that the distributional function between two body dimensions (lateral horn length and mid-line elytron length) differs between Copris fidius (Olivier 1789) and C.

Status changes, new synonymies, key and descriptions of seven new species in the subgenus Scarabaeus (Scarabaeolus) Balthasar 1965 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae).

Distribution of the subgenus Scarabaeus (Scarabaeolus) Balthasar 1965 (tribe Scarabaeini) is centred on southern and south central Africa with only three out of 27 species recorded from West and northeast Africa. After taxonomic corrections and descriptions of seven new southern African species this somewhat controversial subgenus now comprises 33 valid species of which one is flightless. In this paper, Scarabaeus (Scarabaeolus) vansoni Ferreira 1958 syn.

Dung beetle assemblage structure in Tswalu Kalahari Reserve: responses to a mosaic of landscape types, vegetation communities, and dung types.

Tswalu Kalahari Reserve is a private game reserve covering 1,020 km(2) in the Northern Cape, South Africa. It has been created from a number of reclaimed farms and restocked with large indigenous mammals. Two surveys were conducted to inventory the dung beetle fauna (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) and determine their spatial patterns and food type associations.

Trophic associations of a dung beetle assemblage (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) in a woodland savanna of Botswana.

Species richness and abundance of dung beetles were assessed across a range of bait types that acted as surrogates for the food resources available in Chobe National Park, Botswana. These bait types were comprised of the dung of pig (omnivore), cattle (ruminant herbivore dropping fine-fiberd pads), sheep (pellet-dropping ruminant herbivore), and elephant (monogastric, nonruminant herbivore producing coarse-fibered droppings), and chicken livers (carrion). Species richness was similar between traps baited with pig, cattle, and elephant dung but was relatively lower in those baited with sheep dung and carrion.

Discontinuous gas exchange and the significance of respiratory water loss in Scarabaeine beetles.

Respiratory water loss in insects is a controversial topic. Whilst earlier studies considered respiratory transpiration a significant component of overall water loss, to the extent that it was thought to be responsible not only for the evolution of discontinuous gas exchange cycles (DGCs) but also for variation in DGC patterns, later work repeatedly questioned its importance. In particular, investigations of the proportional contribution of respiratory transpiration to total water loss in species showing DGCs suggested that respiratory transpiration was unlikely to be important in these species.