Family HYBOSORIDAE

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Introduction

The Hybosoridae are a cosmopolitan family with most genera and species found in the Afrotropical, Oriental, Neotropical and Australasian Regions. 31 genera and 183 species are recognised currently and the Australian fauna consists of three genera and 40 species. The genera represented in Australia are Liparochrus Erichson, Antiochrus Sharp and Phaeochrous Castelnau. Paulian (1980) revised representatives of the genus Liparochrus of the Australasian Region. Most species are from the humid tropics of Queensland and Northern Territory, although the genus is found in all mainland states. One species, Liparochrus insularis Paulian, is endemic to Lord Howe Island. The genus is not known from Tasmania. The Indo-Australian species of Phaeochrous were revised by Kuijten (1978) who recognised one Australian endemic species, P. australicus Kuitjen, from the Northern Territory, and the largely Oriental subspecies, P. emarginatus emarginatus Castelnau, from Queensland and Western Australia.

Allsopp (1984) provided a checklist of the world fauna which included distribution. Barbero & Palestrini (2003) gave new records for some 9 species already known to occur in Australia.

The nomenclature of the subgenera of Liparochrus is greatly confused. Allsopp (1982, 1984) attempted to correct the problems created by Paulian (1980), but introduced a number of serious errors which were corrected in the Catalogue (Cassis & Weir 1992).


BIOLOGY

The Hybosoridae are scavengers which are known to feed on carrion (Paulian 1980), and have been collected at faeces and rotting organic matter (Williams & Williams 1982, 1983a, 1983b, 1983c, 1984), but little is known about the biology of this group.

 

Diagnosis

The adults of the Hybosoridae are shiny, dark brown to black and range in size from 5 to 12 mm. The elytra cover the abdomen. The mandibles are sharply curved with pointed apices and are visible from above (Lawrence & Britton 1991). Antennae are very short, 10-segmented, with a compact club which resembles that in Geotrupidae. The larvae resemble those of the Ceratocanthidae but differ in that the fore and mid legs form a stridulatory organ, there are only three lobes on the labrum, and the antennae appear 3-segmented because of the fusion of the third and fourth segments (Ritcher 1966).

 

Diagnosis References

Lawrence, J.F. & Britton, E.B. 1991. Chapter 35. Coleoptera (Beetles). pp. 543-683 in Division of Entomology, CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. Ithaca, New York : Cornell University Press Vol. 2.

Ritcher, P.O. 1966. White grubs and their allies. A study of North American scarabaeoid larvae. Oregon State Monographs. Studies in Entomology 4: 1-219

 

General References

Allsopp, P.G. 1982. Corrections to Paulian (1980): “Révision taxonomique des Liparochrus Erichson, genre Australo-Mélanésian de Coléoptères Hybosoridae, Scarabaeoidea”. Journal of the Australian Entomological Society 21: 199-200

Allsopp, P.G. 1984. Checklist of the Hybosorinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae). The Coleopterists Bulletin 38: 105-117

Barbero, E. & Palestrini, V. 2003. Coleoptera Trogidae, Geotrupidae, Hybosoridae, Scarabaeidae (Scarabaeinae and Dynastinae) collected in Australia. pp. 303-328 in Daccordi, M. & Giachino, P.M. (eds). Results of the Zoological Missions to Australia of the Regional Museum of Natural Sciences of Turin, Italy. I. Monografie del Museo Regionale di Scienze Naturali, Torino, 35, 565 pp.

Cassis, G. & Weir, T.A. 1992. In, Houston, W.W.K. (ed.) Zoological Catalogue of Australia. Vol. 9. Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea. Canberra : AGPS xii 544 pp.

Kuijten, P.J. 1978. Revision of the Indo-Australian species of the genus Phaeochrous Castelnau, 1840 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae, Hybosorinae), with notes on African species. Zoologische Verhandelingen (Leiden) 1978: 1-40

Lawrence, J.F. & Britton, E.B. 1991. Chapter 35. Coleoptera (Beetles). pp. 543-683 in Division of Entomology, CSIRO (ed.). The Insects of Australia. Ithaca, New York : Cornell University Press Vol. 2.

Paulian, R. 1980. Révision taxonomique des Liparochrus Erichson, genre Australo-Mélanésien de Coléoptères Hybosoridae, Scarabaeoidea. Annales de la Société Entomologique de France ns 16: 389-433

Ritcher, P.O. 1966. White grubs and their allies. A study of North American scarabaeoid larvae. Oregon State Monographs. Studies in Entomology 4: 1-219

Williams, G.A. & Williams, T. 1982. A survey of the Aphodiinae, Hybosorinae and Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from small wet forests of coastal New South Wales. Part 1: Nowra to Newcastle. Australian Entomological Magazine 9: 42-48

Williams, G.A. & Williams, T. 1983a. A survey of the Aphodiinae, Hybosorinae and Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from small wet forests of coastal New South Wales, Part 2: Barrington Tops to the Comboyne Plateau. Victorian Naturalist 100: 25-30

Williams, G.A. & Williams, T. 1983b. A survey of the Aphodiinae, Hybosorinae and Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from small wet forests of coastal New South Wales, Part 3: Buladelah to Taree. Victorian Naturalist 100: 98-105

Williams, G.A. & Williams, T. 1983c. A survey of the Aphodiinae, Hybosorinae and Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from small wet forests of coastal New South Wales, Part 4: Lansdowne State Forest. Victorian Naturalist 100: 146-154

Williams, G.A. & Williams, T. 1984. A survey of the Aphodiinae, Hybosorinae and Scarabaeinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) from small wet forests of coastal New South Wales, Part 5: Littoral rainforests from Myall Lakes to Crowdy Bay National Park. Victorian Naturalist 101: 127-135

 

History of changes

Published	As part of group	Action Date	Action Type	Compiler(s)
01-Jul-2020	SCARABAEOIDEA	24-Jun-2014	MODIFIED
		12-Feb-2010	(import)