Species › Insects & Arthropods › Common Dor Beetle

Common Dor Beetle

Geotrupes stercorarius

CommonInsect & Arthropod
Illustration of Common Dor Beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius)

The Common Dor Beetle is a large, rotund, shiny blue-black dung beetle that buries dung beneath dung pats as larval food. Its underside is often infested with mites that hitch rides between dung pats — a classic example of phoresy. Adults can be seen flying and walking across roads at dusk, often landing heavily and audibly.

Habitat
Pastures, fields, and forests near large mammal dung
Diet
Adults and larvae: mammal dung buried in tunnels
How common
Common

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