Pericoptus
Encyclopedia
Pericoptus is a genus
of large scarab beetles
found in New Zealand
. As many as five species are recognized.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of large scarab beetles
Scarabaeidae
The family Scarabaeidae as currently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide. The species in this large family are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family is fairly unstable, with numerous competing theories, and new proposals appearing quite...
found in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. As many as five species are recognized.
Species
- Pericoptus frontalisPericoptus frontalisPericoptus frontalis is a New Zealand native sand scarab which inhabits sandy river-banks and sandbars in inland Otago....
- Pericoptus nitidulus
- Pericoptus punctatusPericoptus punctatusPericoptus punctatus is a smaller and similar New Zealand scarab beetle species to Pericoptus truncatus.-Reference:*2007. New Holland Publishers Ltd. Parkinson, Brian and Horne, Don . A Photographic Guide to Insects of New Zealand....
- Pericoptus stupidus
- Pericoptus truncatusPericoptus truncatusPericoptus truncatus or the ngungutawa is a large sand scarab beetle. It is native to New Zealand and is found in dunes from Canterbury northwards....