Geotrupidae (from Greek γῆ (gē), earth, and τρῡπητής (trȳpētēs), borer) is a family of beetles in the order Coleoptera. They are commonly called earth-boring dung beetles or dor beetles.Geotrupidae - Dor beetles (at NatureSpot) Most excavate burrows in which to lay their eggs. They are typically detritivores, provisioning their nests with leaf litter (often moldy), but are occasionally coprophagous, similar to dung beetles. The eggs are laid in or upon the provision mass and buried, and the developing larvae feed upon the provisions. The burrows of some species can exceed 2 metres in depth.
A few species communicate by stridulation (rubbing body parts together to make sounds).
Classification They were originally classified as the subfamily Geotrupinae in the family Scarabaeidae before being elevated to a family. Traditionally the family Bolboceratidae was included (as the subfamily Bolboceratinae) on the basis of the number of antenna segments, but examination of a different set of characteristics prompted Scholtz & Browne (1995) to elevate Bolboceratidae to a family, a result supported by recent phylogenetic research.MCKENNA, D. D., WILD, A. L., KANDA, K., BELLAMY, C. L., BEUTEL, R. G., CATERINO, M. S., FARNUM, C. W., HAWKS, D. C., IVIE, M. A., JAMESON, M. L., LESCHEN, R. A. B., MARVALDI, A. E., MCHUGH, J. V., NEWTON, A. F., ROBERTSON, J. A., THAYER, M. K., WHITING, M. F., LAWRENCE, J. F., ŚLIPIŃSKI, A., MADDISON, D. R. and FARRELL, B. D. (2015), The beetle tree of life reveals that Coleoptera survived end-Permian mass extinction to diversify during the Cretaceous terrestrial revolution. Syst Entomol, 40: 835–880. doi:10.1111/syen.12132
The family has more than 600 species in about 30 genera in two subfamilies; more recent phylogenetic studies indicate that Taurocerastinae is not related to Geotrupinae, and is instead more closely related to Lucanidae and Diphyllostomatidae.
Geotrupinae Allotrypes François, 1904 (= "Allotrupes" Boucomont, 1912) Anoplotrupes Jekel, 1866 Baraudia López-Colón, 1996 Ceratophyus Fischer von Waldheim, 1823 Ceratotrupes Jekel, 1865 Chelotrupes Jekel, 1866 Cnemotrupes Jekel, 1866 Cretogeotrupes Nikolajev, 1992 Enoplotrupes Lucas, 1869 Geohowdenius Zunino, 1984 Geotrupes Latreille, 1796 Halffterius Zunino, 1984 Haplogeotrupes Nikolaev, 1979 Jekelius López-Colón, 1989 Lethrus Scopoli, 1777 Megatrupes Zunino, 1984 Mycotrupes LeConte, 1866 Odontotrypes Fairmaire, 1887 Onthotrupes Howden, 1964 Phelotrupes Jekel, 1866 Peltotrupes Blanchard, 1888 Pseudotrypocopris Miksic, 1954 Sericotrupes Zunino, 1984 Silphotrupes Jekel, 1866 Thorectes Mulsant, 1842 Trypocopris Motschulsky, 1860 Typhaeus Leach, 1815 Zuninoeus López-Colón, 1989 Taurocerastinae Frickius Germain, 1897 Taurocerastes Philippi, 1866
References
External links
D. Jonathan Browne and Clarke H. Scholtz, Bolboceratidae, from the Tree of Life Key to the British species of family Geotrupidae Video of Geotrupes from Hungary