Ataenius scutellaris is a species of beetle of the family Scarabaeidae.
Description Adults reach a length of about . They have a shining, carbon black or piceous body.
Distribution Neotropical: Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil (Acre, Amazonas, Goiás, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rondônia, São Paulo), Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guatemala, Hispaniola, Honduras, Jamaica, Lesser Antilles, Martinique, Mexico (Chiapas, Guerrero, Jalisco, Morelos, Puebla, Veracruz), Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Croix, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Thomas, Saint Vincent, Suriname, Tortola, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela. Oriental: India, Malaysia, Mascarenes, Seychelles, Vanuatu. Madagascan: Madagascar.
Life history Specimens have been collected in forests and in pasture areas, where it may be found in human excrements, as well as in bovine and Guzera droppings.
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