Adelaide Unicorn Beetle
S1, Male, Leg Spurs
Ellura
Adelaide Unicorn Beetle
S2, Female, Head & Antennae
 
                      
Adelaide Unicorn Beetle (Novapus adelaidae)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Beetles (Coleoptera)
Family: Scarab Beetle (Scarabaeidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Adelaide Unicorn Beetle (Novapus adelaidae)
This Photo:     🔍S3, Male, Pronotum🔎

Thank you Mark Hura for identifying this species for us

General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA) and elsewhere
1st Live Photo on-line:
~17 to ~21mm long. Marie found all 3; the first (male) was dead on the ground; the other female & male were found live on the ground.
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.
Imaged 3 in May (F) & Jun (2xM).

Copyright © 2021-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 03-Jun-2021
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.