Coprini | |
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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. 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.
This tribe comprises about 400 species in ten genera:
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.