Onthophagus nuchicornis
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Onthophagus nuchicornis | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Suborder: | Polyphaga |
| Infraorder: | Scarabaeiformia |
| Family: | Scarabaeidae |
| Genus: | Onthophagus |
| Species: | O. nuchicornis |
| Binomial name | |
| Onthophagus nuchicornis (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Onthophagus nuchicornis is a species of dung beetle in the family Scarabaeidae. It is found in Europe and North America.[1][2][3] Though Onthophagus nuchicornis is listed as "Vulnerable" in the United Kingdom,[4] it is a common and abundant species in North America.[5][6] It has been used as a model organism for ecotoxicological studies of ivermectin, where different biological endpoints (e.g. dung burial) are stimulated at low levels of ivermectin exposure, but impaired at high levels of ivermectin exposure.[7]
Like other beetles within the genus, larva bulk-feed within subterranean brood balls, while adults consume the dead and living microbial biomass within the dung.[8] This species can reproduce using the dung of various different North American mammals including: red fox, moose, and bobcat.[9]
