Tomarus cuniculus (Fabricius, 1801)

Gillett, Conrad P. D. T. & Gillett, Michael P. T., 2015, The Dynastinae of the island of Saba, Dutch Caribbean (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae), Insecta Mundi 2015 (433), pp. 1-9 : 4-6

Tomarus cuniculus (Fabricius, 1801)

Figure 6

Specimens examined: 128

Saba locality data. The Level; English Quarter (Windwardside); Windwardside; The Bottom; Upper Mountain Road (Maskerhorne Hill); Lower Mountain Road (Windwardside); Crispeen. These records constitute NEW COUNTRY/ISLAND RECORDS.

Temporal data. January (1), February (2), March (5), April (9), May (49), June (19), July (18), August (5), September (1), October (11), and November (7).

Distribution. Widely distributed from the southern United States (Florida) to northeastern South America ( Endrödi 1985; Peck and Thomas 1998). The species is widespread across much of the West Indies, with records from Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, Cuba, La Désirade, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Guana, Hispaniola, Les Saintes, Jamaica, Marie-Galante, Martinique, Mona, Montserrat, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Barthélémy, St. Croix, St. John, St. Martin, St. Thomas, St. Vincent, and Trinidad ( Peck et al. 2014; Ratcliffe and Cave 2008).

Remarks. Peck (2014) noted that the larvae of T. cuniculus are a pest of sugar cane but can also be saprophagous or coprophagous. The adults are attracted to lights.

Figures

Figures 5–7. Dynastinae of Saba. 5) Cyclocephala mafaffa Burmeister. 6) Tomarus cuniculus (Fabricius). 7) Phileurus valgus antillarum Prell. Scales in millimetres. Photographs by Harry Taylor.