New Records of Onthophagus cavernicollis Howden and Cartwright (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from Ozark Caves, with a Review of Scarabaeoids Reported from North American Caves
2012
Slay, Michael E. | Skelley, Paul E. | Taylor, Steven J.
Recent collecting in caves in the Ozark region of the USA produced a number of new scarab beetle records (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). We report our collections and review literature records of scarabs reported from caves in the USA and Canada. Most of these records are accidental occurrences, but a few represent widespread species with known associations to host vertebrates that may occupy a cave. Two species, Onthophagus cavernicollis Howden and Cartwright (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae), and Stenotothorax gardneri (Gordon) (Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae), appear closely tied to woodrat, Neotoma floridana (Ord) (Rodentia: Cricetidae), nests. We consider the cave association of these two species, categorizing them as troglophiles. The distribution of O. cavernicollis is mainly in the Ozark region, but this pattern may be due to inadequate sampling in other locations. Stenotothorax gardneri is known only from caves in the Ozark region. All available collection records from recent work, museum specimens and literature accounts are presented for these species. Additional discussions are presented for O. cavernicollis because our materials contained the undescribed male and female minors and new insight into their habits.
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