[Edited 2 Dec 2006 - Finally identified this specimen Onthophagus rectecornutus Lansberge, 1883 from AFCD insect collection and in the Fauna of British India].  Original posting below:

This Onthophagus sp. was found in a friends kitchen.  I frequently come across less well marked (or armed) individuals but have not been able to itdentify any.  Of the 18 species of Onthophagus I know of in Hong Kong, I have descriptions of only 10 (that leaves 8 species that I have no idea what they look like), this one matches the description of Onthophagus luridipennis Boheman 1858.  I also know this species occurs in diverse habitats such as agricultural land and secondary woodland and scrub (which is the habitat outside the kitchen where it was found).  Can anyone help me confirm (or correct) my identification.  Any help welcome.

Kind regards Paul

[ Last edited by  PemE at 2006-12-2 17:40 ]

18 species is really attractive! I should put more efforts on digging cow dung.

A very detail Chinese description can be found on p.264 of the book "An Introduction to Scarabaeinae of the World" , 2002,  Chan. According to his description, the pair of horns on male's head greatly curve backward. It is not the case in yours.

In his book, it is named as Onthophagus (Gibbonthophagus) iuridipennis Boeheman, 1858. However, according to the World Scarabaeidae Database, Nov 2005http://annual.sp2000.org/2006/show_database_details.php?database_name=Scarabs,Onthophagus iuridipennis Boeheman, 1858 is a synonym of Gibbonthophagus iuridipennis Boeheman, 1858. Also see this : http://annual.sp2000.org/2006/sh ... p?record_id=1302006

Onthophagus (Gibbonthophagus) iuridipennis Boeheman, 1858 is possibily still the valid name for the species but  it does not seem to be the one shown in Paul's illustration.    To bring more excitement into the discussion, I think there may be at least 20 (identified) + 1 (unidentified) Onthophagus spp. in Hong Kong.

[ 本帖最後由 nadia 於 2006-11-8 09:26 編輯 ]

and possibly a number of undescribed in science. Lets work hard for a
Onthophagus hongkongensis or Onthophagus oweni

[ 本帖最後由 littlelittle 於 2006-11-8 16:41 編輯 ]

Thanks Littlelittle and Nadia for the reply, its nice to know others are interested.  Yes the horns are only very slightly curved, though strongly bent backwards.  I will start reading them up again

I forgot to mention the size 9.2mm long.

By the way, for some information on how to find , and some witty reading about Dung Diggers and scarabs, the SCARABS online magazine is quite good, though basically for the Americas. Here are the addresses for the first and last volumes, just change the number from 1 to 14.

http://www-museum.unl.edu/resear ... etter/scarabs_1.pdf

http://www-museum.unl.edu/resear ... tter/scarabs_14.pdf

And yes, dung digging is good.

Kind regards Paul

I suspect the 1st one is  Gibbonthophagus iuridipennis which has a pair of horns curved inward and backward as mentioned by Chan. The second one looks like yours, but mine has shorter horns and clypeus may also be different from yours, maybe mine is a less well developed individual.

To make the discussion more interesting, I add another one which I suspect is Gibbonthophagus taurinus. Shape of the pair of horns is different. Size and distribution of the punctures on the clypeus and pronotum are also quite different.

[ 本帖最後由 littlelittle 於 2006-11-9 23:15 編輯 ]

Onthophagus proletarius  Harold 1875

I found this one in July.  The description fits very well.  

Black, head and pronotum lightly suffused with metallic lustre; Femora orange; anterior and posterior patches on each elytra yellow orange, basal patch not reaching the inner or outer lateral margins; Antenna club yellow;  Body clothed with short yellow setae; Clypeal margin is entire; Pronotum evenly, finely and closely punctured; Pygidium smooth, punctured; Clypeus front margin round (but straight in the middle) and is separated from the forehead by a curved carina.  Also a longer straight carina between the eyes. Length 6mm

Regards Paul

[ Last edited by  PemE at 2006-11-17 19:40 ]