Oxysternon festivum

Oxysternon festivum was among the first dung beetle species studied by zoologist in the early 18th century. The first illustration of an "exceedingly beautiful shining gold and red, three horned beetle" was published in 1747 by August Johann Rösel von Rosenhof, and a first description was done by Laurens Theodorus Gronovius in 1764, but the names applied were non-binomial and therefore invalid for nomenclatural purposes.^[4][5][6] It was later re-described by Carl Linnaeus under the name of Scarabaeus festivus, and was subsequently included in most publications regarding exotic insects in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.^{[7][8][9][10][11]}

O. festivum was once assigned to the genus Sternaspis, but the name was preoccupied and thus invalid. Laporte, writing under the pen name of Le Compte de Castelnau, proposed the genus Oxysternon to include several species of Phaneus-like species with a long, spiniform extension of the anterior angle of the metasternum. O. festivum was later designated as the type species of this genus.^[7][12]

Two color phases were described as aberrations by Olsoufieff in 1924, and formalised as subspecies by Arnaud in 2002, using the names O. festivum nigerrimum for the black form from Trinidad and O. festivum viridanum for the green form of the South American mainland. However, the green form occurs uncommonly but widely together with the typical coppery-red form of the South American mainland, leading later authorities to recognize the former as a morph, not a separate subspecies.^[2]

This species largely is restricted to the Guiana Shield and can be found in French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, eastern Colombia, northeastern Brazil, and Trinidad.^[2][13] The vast majority of its range is north of the Amazon River.^[2]

O. festivum mostly lives in tropical humid forests, but may also occur in savanna and can tolerate certain degree of habitat changes.^[2][13] It occurs from near sea level to an altitude of 1,500 m (4,900 ft).^[2]