Coprophanaeus Olsoufieff, 1924

Edmonds, W. D. & Zidek, J., 2010, A taxonomic review of the neotropical genus Coprophanaeus Olsoufieff, 1924 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Scarabaeinae), Insecta Mundi 2010 (129), pp. 1-111 : 8-9

Genus Coprophanaeus Olsoufieff, 1924

Coprophanaeus Olsoufieff, 1924: 22 (as subgenus of Phanaeus ) Type Species: Scarabaeus jasius Olivier (cited as Phanaeus jasius ), by original designation.

Diagnosis. (based on Edmonds 1972, q.v.) Clypeus deeply, narrowly emarginated medially, bearing two prominent, acute median teeth united on lower side by U-shaped ridge; clypeal margin lateral to teeth often angulate. Eyes usually large (except Metallophanaeus ), width of upper portion exceeding one-fourth of interocular distance, width of lower portion exceeding twice that of oculogular space. Circumnotal carina entire or broken behind eyes, but pronotal margin never excised to receive parietal lobes of head. Pronotum, at least anterolaterally, granulorugose, rugosities often coalescing into transverse ridging or scale-like sculpturing. Protibiae very strongly, acutely quadridentate. Protarsi absent in male, absent in female except some Megaphanaeus . Color most often dark, somber, with limited metallic highlights, seldom wholly metallic. Sexual dimorphism usually pronounced, but in different ways among subgenera and species groups (see below).

Comments. Members of this genus are easily distinguished from other Phanaeini by the combination of strong dentition of the tibiae and clypeus. The only other phanaeines likely to be confused with certain Coprophanaeus are those few robust species of Dendropaemon Perty , which, among other differences, possess only two or three meso- and metatarsal segments. Olsoufieff’s choice of the name for this group recognized “… leur ressemblance avec les veritable Copris .”

As in most phanaeine groups, the taxonomy of Coprophanaeus is male-dominated. Nevertheless, the variation in the form and degree of sexual dimorphism in the genus is striking and much more complicated than in any other phanaeine group. The particulars of each case are treated in the appropriate taxonomic section below, but several cases suggest some interesting possibilities concerning the evolution of sexual dimorphism in this genus. In C. bellicosus , unlike other Megaphanaeus species , the male and female are quite different, especially in the form of the head. The male bears a long, tapering horn, whereas the female bears a trituberculate carina with enlarged central tubercle, similar to the saphirinus group of Metallophanaeus . Several other features suggest that C. bellicosus is an annectant between the two subgenera. Arnaud (2002c), also struck by the uniqueness of this species, removed C. bellicosus from Megaphanaeus and placed it in Coprophanaeus s. str. (see Comments under C. bellicosus ). Rowland and Emlen (2009) have provided new insights on the relationship between male horn polymorphism and reproductive strategy as exhibited primarily by the phanaeine dung beetles.