Black Aphodius vs Alpine Rove Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Black Aphodius Alpine Rove Beetle
Scientific Name Aphodius fimetarius Ocypus alpestris
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Scarabaeidae Staphylinidae
Size 5-8 mm 14-20 mm
Habitat Farmland Forests
Diet Dung Feeders Predators
Regions Europe, North America, Asia Alps, Central European mountains
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Black Aphodius

A small dweller dung beetle with a black head and pronotum and reddish-brown elytra. It lives directly within dung pats rather than tunneling or rolling. One of the most common and widespread dung beetles in the Northern Hemisphere.

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Did You Know?

Unlike roller and tunneler species, dwellers complete their entire life cycle within the dung pat itself.

Alpine Rove Beetle

A large, black rove beetle of high-altitude meadows and forest edges. It is a fast-running predator of insects and larvae.

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Did You Know?

It raises its flexible abdomen like a scorpion when threatened, though it has no stinger.