Small Australian Tunneler vs Totara Longhorn Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Small Australian Tunneler Totara Longhorn Beetle
Scientific Name Onthophagus parvus Xylotoles costatus
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Scarabaeidae Cerambycidae
Size 4-6 mm 1-2 cm
Habitat Woodlands Woodlands
Diet Dung Feeders Wood Feeders
Regions Australia New Zealand
Conservation Least Concern Endangered

Small Australian Tunneler

A tiny, brown tunneling dung beetle native to Australia. It is one of the few native Australian species adapted to process the dry, pellet-like dung of marsupials. Found in eucalyptus woodland across the continent.

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Did You Know?

Native Australian dung beetles evolved with marsupial pellet dung and were ill-equipped to handle the wet dung of introduced cattle.

Totara Longhorn Beetle

A longhorn beetle endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand. It breeds in dead wood of native Dracophyllum trees.

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Did You Know?

The Chatham Islands have been so heavily deforested that many of their endemic insects are now critically rare.