The present work describes the patterns of richness and abundance along an elevational gradient, complemented with an annotated checklist of necrophagous beetle species (Scarabaeidae, Trogidae, Geotrupidae, and Silphidae) collected in Cerro de García, Jalisco. The site is located southwest of Lake Chapala and in the western region of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. Specimens were collected each month during one year of sampling. Seven sites were surveyed with elevations ranging from 1,600 to 2,700 m. At each site, two carrion traps baited with squid were used and additional specimens were collected directly from cow dung during July. A total of 4,320 specimens were collected, belonging to 26 species within four families. Silphidae were the most abundant beetle family, comprising 64% of the total beetle abundance. In the superfamily Scarabaeoidea, Scarabaeidae were the most abundant at 31% of the total abundance and also the most diverse. Geotrupidae and Trogidae represented 5% of the total abundance. The results show that richness and diversity indices decrease as the elevation increases. However, abundance values were highest at an intermediate elevation of 2,000 m. The diversity of richness and abundance along the elevational gradient showed greatest spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of dung beetle species at 2,000 m where sites with species with affinities to tropical and high mountain environments overlapped.

Coleoptera in flood debris are involved in several apparently disparate, but ultimately interrelated disciplines. In some situations, more than 100 beetle species have been collected from debris immediately after a flood and can greatly augment a biotic survey. Beetles entrained in floods represent an important component of terrestrial inputs into lotic systems. Many species of beetles have evolved morphological and behavioral adaptations to avoid or exploit the costs and benefits of flooding and are dependent on floods for habitat formation in the aquatic/terrestrial transition zone along rivers. Quaternary beetle fossils, often found in fluvial deposits, offer a powerful tool to reconstruct past climates and ecosystems, and an important way to better understand the history of a species' distribution. However, the categories above are artificial and overlapping. With rare exception, studies linking these disciplines could not be found. For example, by studying beetles in flood debris today, paleontologists can personally witness the creation of a thanatocoenosis (death assemblage) produced by the same process acting on the same species that left fossils 100,000 years ago. Continued study of the interaction of beetles and floods, especially in light of global climate change, carries the potential to better predict ecosystem-wide changes in the near future.

A new species within the Zipanginia sakishimana species complex, Zipanginia leehsuehae Lee, new species, is described from Taiwan. It can be distinguished from congeners by the modified abdominal ventrites in males. Modified ventrite characters are shared with the type species, Yoshiakia iwatensis Takizawa, 2009, of the monotypic genus Yoshiakia Takizawa, 2009. These similarities are considered synapomorphies; therefore, Yoshiakia is regarded as a junior synonym of Zipanginia Ohno, 1962 (new synonymy), and Y. iwatensis is transferred to Zipanginia (new combination). Adults of the Z. sakishimana species complex feed on leaves of Elaeagnus spp. (Elaeagnaceae).

We have revealed a surprisingly wide distribution for the blind, subterranean histerid species, Geocolus caecus Wenzel, largely through the use of buried “pipe” traps. This species is now known from Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Kentucky, and we also describe its newly discovered larva, associated by DNA sequences. The phylogenetic position of this unusual genus has received little attention, but its continued placement in Dendrophilinae, though not in any specific tribe, appears justified. Morphological similarities to other putative relatives, especially the Mediterranean Triballodes Schmidt, less so New Zealand's Brounister Leschen and Ôhara, are suggestive, though at least some are likely to be symplesiomorphies.

The type of Eumolpus hobsoni Curtis, 1840 in Museums Victoria, Australia was located and examined. Despite the type locality placed in England, this species is in fact a North American member of Xanthonia Baly, 1863. Eumolpus hobsoni is a new junior subjective synonym of Xanthonia decemnotata (Say, 1824).

A study of the variation in morphology and color showed that all characters used for defining Melasis fermini Sánchez-Ruiz and Rosa, 2003 fall within the range of variation found in Melasis buprestoides (Linnaeus, 1761). In addition, small specimens of M. buprestoides with red elytra agreed with large dark ones in their DNA barcodes. As both forms could be reared from the same source wood as well, it is clear that they cannot be regarded as two different species. Consequently, we regard M. fermini to be a junior subjective synonym of M. buprestoides.

We evaluated the functional capacities of dung removal and secondary seed dispersal by two telecoprid dung beetles, Canthon rutilans cyanescens (Harold) and Deltochilum multicolor Balthasar, and two paracoprid dung beetles, Dichotomius sericeus (Harold) and Phanaeus splendidulus (Fabricius), in a remnant of Atlantic Forest in southern Brazil. We aimed to describe and understand the variability of these behaviors among these species and compare their dung removal capacities by standardized biomass. Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effect of exposure time to the resource on the functional capacity of the four species and the effect of density on C. r. cyanescens and D. sericeus in arenas with single male/female pairs or groups of three pairs. Beetles were exposed to 30 g of canine feces with artificial seeds, which remained in the field for two, seven, or 21 days in four replicates. The paracoprids were more efficient than the telecoprids in all ecological functions. Canthon r. cyanescens removed significantly more dung with increasing exposure time and density, while D. multicolor showed no significant differences in any ecosystem function. For D. sericeus, time was relevant for increasing dung removal and dispersion of large seeds, while density only affected dung removal. Phanaeus splendidulus removed more dung with increasing exposure time, but its effect on seed dispersal was not significant. When evaluating dung removal capacity by standardized biomass, C. rutilans and D. sericeus were the most efficient species, demonstrating that paracoprids are usually more efficient because of their greater body biomass. As much as the functional capacity of certain ecological functions differs among species, different functional groups provide complementarity in communities. Thus, data on the biology and behavior of species are important in ecosystem functions.

Darkling beetles are conspicuous and abundant animals, particularly in the arid regions of the world, where they fill an ecological niche as nutrient recyclers. Despite their widespread importance, the immature stages of most darkling beetle species remain uncharacterized. The darkling beetle Asbolus verrucosus LeConte is a popular “show bug” for hobbyists and insectariums where it is colloquially referred to as the “blue death-feigning beetle”. Ecologically, A. verrucosus is one of the most successful Nearctic desert animals and has the longest known lifespan for an adult beetle. The success of this species is not completely understood, and the behavior of immature stages has not been studied. Our husbandry methods allowed us to investigate the development and behavior of A. verrucosus through its complete life cycle. Here we show that maturing larvae of captive-bred A. verrucosus will feign death in response to movement and may reflex bleed during their death-feigning ritual. The released hemolymph acts as an adhesive, partially cloaking the larvae in sand and debris. The resulting crypsis may help the larvae evade desert-dwelling predators that rely on visual cues to recognize and capture prey. While other animals use specialized hairs, podia, mucous, silk or feces to collect debris, this represents the first known example of hemolymph acting as a mechanism to establish debris-based camouflage. Given that this discovery was made within a species-rich family of beetles, it may not be an isolated phenomenon.

Dung beetles attracted to the feces of wild Japanese macaques (Primates: Macaca fuscata Blyth) were studied at two temperate sites in Japan, Kinkazan (dominated by deciduous forest) and Yakushima (dominated by evergreen forest), to determine if temporal variations occur in the dung beetle community. Data from 428 pitfall traps baited with fresh Japanese macaque feces and placed during 15 sampling periods from 2015 to 2019 were analyzed. We captured 1,682 beetles (two families, five genera, and nine species) from Kinkazan and 1,102 beetles (two families, four genera, and nine species) from Yakushima. More than 50% of the beetles captured were small (body size < 10 mm) tunnelers (species of Onthophagus Latreille and Caccobius Thomson). Large (body size > 10 mm) tunnelers (species of Phelotrupes Jekel and Copris acutidens Motschulsky) were common in Kinkazan, and dwellers (species of Aphodius Illiger) were frequently obtained in Yakushima. At both sites, the capture rate and number of trapped beetles were greater during the summer and autumn (Kinkazan: 90–100%; Yakushima: 64–95%) than during other seasons. For several species, the number of beetles collected in each trap was positively correlated with mean temperature, but no relationship with rainfall was observed. From an ecological viewpoint, dung beetles burying seeds embedded in macaque feces might affect plant fitness in the initial stages.

This paper is the third in a series of studies on the genus Trachys Fabricius from China. It reports the results of a collecting survey of the fauna in Hunan Province, China. Altogether, 20 species and subspecies were collected and identified from the province. Detailed distributional data are presented for all species and subspecies recorded from Hunan Province, nine of which are recorded as new to the province, and four of which are considered new species and herein described and illustrated: Trachys chalingensis Peng, new species; Trachys cylindricus Peng, new species; Trachys latiquadratus Peng, new species; and Trachys scapuliformis Peng, new species.

Parque Bicentenario in the Área Natural Protegida El Espino-Bosque Los Pericos, considered the “last green lung of San Salvador”, is the most important forested area in central El Salvador. We performed a survey to provide the first inventory of scarab beetles (Scarabaeidae) of the park. Collections were conducted monthly for one year (August 2018–July 2019) by using baited pitfall, aerial, and ultraviolet light traps. Four subfamilies, nine tribes, 14 genera, 20 species (8% of the total richness of the family in El Salvador), and 1,584 individuals were captured. The most abundantly collected species in the park were the scarabaeines Onthophagus batesi Howden and Cartwright, Onthophagus belorhinus (Bates), Dichotomius centralis (Harold), Coprophanaeus corythus (Harold), Dichotomius yucatanus (Bates), and Coprophanaeus boucardi (Nevinson).

The flat bark beetle (Coleoptera: Cucujidae) fauna of the Philippines consists of two species of Pediacus Shuckard, 1839: Pediacus ater Grouvelle, 1897 and Pediacus australis Marris and Ślipiński, 2004. Very few literature data records exist, showing P. ater recorded from two specimens from one locality on Mindanao Island, and P. australis known from a single specimen on Luzon Island. New distributional data for P. ater in the Philippines are provided, including the first records from the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Lanao del Sur Province), Soccsksargen Region (South Cotabato Province), and Central Visayas Region (Negros Oriental Province). These records show a much wider distribution for P. ater than was previously known and indicate that the species is widely distributed, at least in central and southern regions of the Philippines. Phenological activity of the species is discussed for the first time. A map with locality records for both cucujid species from the Philippines is given as well as morphological diagnostic information to discriminate the species.

Falsoceratoprion fumagalliae Ferreira, new genus and new species, the first discovered Calopterini fossil, is described from Dominican amber. The new genus is diagnosed, described, illustrated, and compared with other Dominican amber Lycidae and closely related extant genera.