Coprini

Coprini
Male Copris sacontala
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Scarabaeidae
Subfamily:	Scarabaeinae
Tribe:	Coprini Kolbe, 1805

Coprini is a tribe of scarab beetles, in the dung beetle subfamily (Scarabaeinae). Scholtz et al.^[1] describe them as tunnellers that are shiny black, of moderate to large size (9-30 mm long) and with a strongly convex shape. They also, however state that the grouping based on these characteristics has little phylogenetic validity, and the placement of several genera in the Canthonini, Coprini and Dichotomiini is likely to change.^[1]

Taxonomy

This tribe comprises about 400 species in ten genera:^[1]

• Catharsius - Afrotropical and Oriental
• Copridaspidus - endemic to moist Afrotropics
• Copris - Afrotropical, Palaearctic, Oriental, Nearctic, and northern Neotropical regions
• Coptodactyla - endemic to Australia
• Litocopris - endemic to moist Afrotropics
• Metacatharsius - Africa savanna and arid southern Palearctic
• Pseudocopris - endemic to moist Afrotropics
• Pseudopedaria - endemic to moist Afrotropics
• Synapsis - Palaearctic and Oriental
• Thyregis - endemic to Australia

Ecology

Most species are nocturnal. They are predominantly coprophagous, but some are necrophagous. Dung is rapidly buried in shallow tunnels and then used for nest construction in deeper tunnels.^[1]

References

1. Scholtz, Clarke H.; Davis, Adrian L. V.; Kryger, Ute (2009). Evolutionary biology and conservation of dung beetles. Sofia-Moscow: Pensoft Pub. ISBN 978-954-642-517-1.