Onthophagus gazella | |
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Male | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Insecta |
Order: | Coleoptera |
Family: | Scarabaeidae |
Genus: | Onthophagus |
Species: | O. gazella |
Binomial name | |
Onthophagus gazella (Fabricius, 1787) |
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Synonyms | |
Scarabaeus gazella Fabricius, 1787 |
Scarabaeus gazella Fabricius, 1787
Digitonthophagus gazella (Fabricius, 1787)
Onthophagus gazella (common names: gazella scarab, brown dung beetle) is a species of scarab beetle. It belongs to the subgenus Digitonthophagus, which may also be treated as a genus. There has been some confusion regarding the application of the name.
Its native distribution is Afro-Asian. It has been introduced to many other parts of the world in order to help remove cattle dung from pastures, with some introductions leading to naturalized populations.