Vacca Dung Beetle vs Red-Tipped Tumbling Flower Beetle

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Vacca Dung Beetle Red-Tipped Tumbling Flower Beetle
Scientific Name Onthophagus vacca Mordellina pustulata
Order Coleoptera Coleoptera
Family Scarabaeidae Mordellidae
Size 6-12 mm 3-5 mm
Habitat Grasslands Meadows
Diet Dung Feeders Parasitoids
Regions Europe, Western Asia Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Vacca Dung Beetle

A small coppery-green to bronze tunneler with a broad head and short horns in males. It is a common pasture dung beetle across Europe. The metallic sheen distinguishes it from many congeners.

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Did You Know?

Males with longer horns guard tunnel entrances while hornless males sneak through side tunnels to mate.

Red-Tipped Tumbling Flower Beetle

A small tumbling flower beetle with dark elytra bearing reddish markings, found across Europe. Larvae develop inside the stems of composite plants.

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Did You Know?

Its larvae bore through the pith of thistle stems, pupating inside and emerging as adults through a neat exit hole.