Aphodius fossor

Description

Up to 12 mm long and very broad and convex, this dung beetle is black but can have a bluish sheen in certain light. The scutellum is long and studded with small punctuations.

Identification difficulty
Habitat

Around wet dung of horses and cattle.

When to see it

In horse and cattle dung from March to October and among flood refuse throughout the autumn and winter.

It is also attracted to light so may be found in moth traps.

Life History

Larvae feed on dung and debris.

UK Status

Common over most of England and Wales but less so further north.

VC55 Status

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 34 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.

Leicestershire & Rutland Map

MAP KEY:

Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
Coloured circles = NatureSpot records: 2020+ | 2015-2019 | pre-2015

UK Map

Species profile

Species group:
Beetles
Kingdom:
Animalia
Order:
Coleoptera
Family:
Aphodiidae
Records on NatureSpot:
13
First record:
25/04/2011 (Calow, Graham)
Last record:
26/05/2023 (Gray, Stephen)

Total records by month

% of records within its species group

10km squares with records

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