Adelaide's Unicorn Beetle
Male: Leg Spur
Adelaide's Unicorn Beetle
Male: ventral
| Adelaide's Unicorn Beetle Male: Leg Spur | | Adelaide's Unicorn Beetle Male: ventral | | ||
 | Class: | Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta) | |||
| Order: | Beetles (Coleoptera) | ||||
| Family: | Scarab Beetle (Scarabaeidae) | ||||
| Species: | Adelaide's Unicorn Beetle (Novapus adelaidae) | ||||
| This Photo: | Male: Leg Spurs | ||||
Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us General Species Information: Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere ~21mm long. Marie found this one dead on the ground. It had only just died as it was still flexible, but in remarkable condition. We spent hours trying to id it via photographs and thought it was Novapus crassus, a very similar species. Mark said "It exhibits all the features of this species - pygidium setose on base and apical ridge; mentum setose on disc; deep, abrupt pronotal excavation with shallow vermiform punctures on the disc; large bifurcate cephalic horn; subobsolete upper carina on hind tibia as well as a number of other features." In 1887 Rev. T. Blackburn states of this species (which he described) "I have seen a good many specimens taken in the Adelaide district.". It's a pity they are so rare today. The females don't have the horn, nor the depression. | |||||
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