Blackburn Earth-Boring Beetle vs Goatweed Leafwing

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Blackburn Earth-Boring Beetle Goatweed Leafwing
Scientific Name Blackburnium reichei Anaea andria
Order Coleoptera Lepidoptera
Family Geotrupidae Nymphalidae
Size 8-12 mm 55-75 mm wingspan
Habitat Heathland Farmland
Diet Dung Feeders Dung Feeders
Regions Australia Central and Eastern United States, northern Mexico
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Blackburn Earth-Boring Beetle

A small, globular earth-boring dung beetle with a dark brown to black body. Endemic to Australia, it processes marsupial dung. It constructs deep burrows in sandy soils provisioned with dung for larvae.

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Did You Know?

This is one of the few native Australian dung beetles adapted to process the dry, fibrous dung of marsupials.

Goatweed Leafwing

A bright orange butterfly whose angular wing shape and mottled brown underside create a perfect dead-leaf disguise when at rest. It almost never visits flowers.

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Did You Know?

It overwinters as an adult, hiding among dead leaves where its camouflage makes it virtually invisible.