SCARABAEINAE, Latreille, 1802

Peck, Stewart B., 2011, The diversity and distributions of the beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) of the northern Leeward Islands, Lesser Antilles (Anguilla, Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, Saba, St. Barthélemy, St. Eustatius, St. Kitts, and St. Martin-St. Maarten, Insecta Mundi 2011 (159), pp. 1-54 : 23-24

SUBFAMILY SCARABAEINAE

TRIBE ATEUCHINI

Ateuchus illaesum (Harold) 1868: 53 ( Choeridium ); Leng and Mutchler 1914: 438; Blackwelder 1944- 1957: 204; Matthews 1966: 46; Chalumeau and Gruner 1974: 789; Chalumeau 1983a: 48. = Choeridium insulare Fleutiaux and Sallé 1890: 395 ; Leng and Mutchler 1914: 438, 1917: 207; Paulian 1947a: 31; Matthews 1966: 46 (synonymy); Chalumeau 1983a: 49 (as valid species); Ivie et al. 2008b: 244. Distribution. Carriacou, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Montserrat, Mustique, St. Kitts, St.

Vincent. Mexico (type locality), Colombia ; Lesser Antilles and Latin America . Notes. Found in open lowland pastures and in lowland xerophytic forest.

TRIBE ONTHOPHAGINI

Digitonthophagus gazella (Fabricius) 1787: 377 ( Scarabaeus ); Huchet 1992: 298; Touroult 2005: 85; Ivie and Philips 2008: 10; Ivie et al. 2008b: 244. Distribution. Anguilla (2004), Antigua, Guadeloupe (Basse-Terre, 1992), Hispaniola, Jamaica, Marie-Galante (1992), Martinique (first Lesser Antilles report in Huchet 1992), Montserrat (2000), Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Kitts (2003), St. Vincent, Union; introduced to Lesser Antilles. The species is native to much of the hotter and drier parts of Africa, and ranges into Madagascar, Asia Minor, India, and Ceylon. Introduced to the New World via Texas in 1972. By 1977 it was distributed from California to Florida, south to Mexico and Guatemala ( Hoebeke and Beucke 1997) and is expanding its range in the Caribbean (Ivie and Philips 2007; dates above are year of first Lesser Antilles records). Notes. Introduced to Texas to speed the removal of livestock dung in pastures. It has a rapid reproduction rate and high mobility. It may be a threat to the native dung beetles of the West Indies ( Ivie and Philips 2008). This is a species of open habitats so it may not directly compete with the native dung scarabs which are mostly inhabitants of forested or shady habitats, and have different dung preferences.