Scarabaeidae

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Scarabaeidae

The family Scarabaeidae as presently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetle

Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
s worldwide. The species in this large family are often called scarabs or scarab
Scarab artifact

The Scarab artifacts of Ancient Egypt, based upon the Scarabaeidae family dung beetle, was the most popular amulet of ancient Egypt. In the ancient Egyption mythos, the sun rolls across the sky each day and transforms bodies and souls....
beetles. The classification of this family is fairly unstable, with numerous competing theories, and new proposals appearing quite often. It is probable that many of the subfamilies listed here will no longer be recognized very much longer, as they will likely be reduced in status below subfamily rank, or elevated to family status (the latter is most likely, e.g., with the family "Melolonthidae" already appearing in some recent classifications).

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Encyclopedia

The family Scarabaeidae as presently defined consists of over 30,000 species of beetle

Beetle

Glaphyridae

Glaphyridae is a family of beetles....
, Ochodaeidae

Ochodaeidae

Ochodaeidae, sometimes known as the sand-loving scarab beetles, is a small but widely-distributed family of Scarabaeiformia beetles.These beetles are small, ranging from 3-10 mm....
, Geotrupidae, Bolboceratidae)

Scarabs are stout-bodied beetles, many with bright metallic colors, measuring between 5-60 mm. They have distinctive, clubbed antennae

Antenna (biology)

Antennae are paired appendages connected to the front-most morphogenesis of arthropods. In crustaceans, they are biramous and present on the first two segments of the head, with the smaller pair known as antennules....
composed of plates called lamellae that can be compressed into a ball or fanned out like leaves to sense odors. The front legs are broad and adapted for digging.

The C-shaped larva

Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e, called grubs, are pale yellow or white. Most adult beetles are nocturnal, although the flower chafers (Cetoniinae) and many leaf chafers (Rutelinae) are active during the day. The grubs mostly live underground or under debris, so are not exposed to sunlight. Many scarabs are scavengers that recycle dung, carrion

Carrion

Carrion refers to the carcass of a dead animal. Carrion is an important food source for large carnivores and omnivores in most ecosystems. Examples of carrion-eaters, or scavengers, include Hyenas, Vultures, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, Black Bears, Komodo Dragons, Bald Eagles, Raccoons and Blue-tongued lizards....
, or decaying plant material. Others, such as the Japanese beetle

Japanese beetle

The beetle species Popillia japonica is commonly known as the Japanese beetle. It is about 1.5 cm long and 1 cm wide, with iridescent copper-colored elytra and green thorax and head....
are devastating agricultural pests.

In ancient Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, scarabs were revered as sacred. Some of the well-known beetles from the Scarabaeidae are Japanese beetle

Japanese beetle

Dung beetle

Dung beetles are beetles that feed partly or exclusively on feces. All of these species belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea; most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae....
s, June beetles, rose chafer

Rose chafer

Cetonia aurata, known as the rose chafer, or more rarely as the green rose chafer, is a beetle, 20 mm long, that has metallic green coloration with a distinct V shaped scutellum, the small triangular area between the wing cases just below the thorax, and having several other irregular small white lines and marks....
s (European and North American

Macrodactylus subspinosus

Macrodactylus subspinosus is a North American beetle of the family Scarabaeidae. It is one of at least two beetles in this family known as the "rose chafer", the other being the European Cetonia aurata....
), rhinoceros beetle

Rhinoceros beetle

The rhinoceros beetles or rhino beetle are a subfamily of beetles in the family of scarab beetles . They are among the largest of beetles, and their common name refers to the characteristic horns borne by the males of most species in the group....
s, Hercules beetle

Hercules beetle

The Hercules beetle is the most famous of the rhinoceros beetles. Native to the rainforests of central America and South America, they also can be found in coastal regions of North Carolina....
s and Goliath beetles.

Several members of this family have shells which act as left-handed circular polarisers; this was the first-discovered example of circular polarization in nature

Circular polarization in nature

Only a few mechanisms in nature are known to systematically produce circular polarization light. In 1911, Albert Abraham Michelson discovered that light reflected from the golden scarab beetle Plusiotis resplendens is preferentially left-handed....
.

Gallery

External links

Images on Flickr
Images Binomial Names
Image page.Click on a flag to return to the home page.
(2005)
(worldwide coverage; through 2005)
(2003)
on the UF
University of Florida

The University of Florida is a Public university land-grant university, sea grant colleges, Space grant colleges major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States....
/ IFAS
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

The University of Florida?s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible....
Featured Creatures Web site
on the UF
University of Florida

The University of Florida is a Public university land-grant university, sea grant colleges, Space grant colleges major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States....
/ IFAS
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

The University of Florida?s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible....
Featured Creatures Web site
on the UF
University of Florida

The University of Florida is a Public university land-grant university, sea grant colleges, Space grant colleges major research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida, in the United States....
/ IFAS
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

The University of Florida?s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is a federal-state-county partnership dedicated to developing knowledge in agriculture, human and natural resources, and the life sciences, and enhancing and sustaining the quality of human life by making that information accessible....
Featured Creatures Web site
Generic Guide to New World Scarabaeidae