Aphodius distinctus
As I was studying Bison doodoo (from a distance, I assure you) in mid-February on Antelope Island
and not really expecting to find dung beetles in the middle of winter (although it was 55 degrees out),
I noticed the mass appeared to be in motion. That piqued my interest since I was pretty sure we weren't
having an earthquake. Underneath and to the side of the dung were these little beetles and there were
so many, they were jiggling the doo - a sort of dung Jell-O, if you will. While it wasn't actually Jell-O
or even gelatinous tofu, one thing was certain - it wasn't hamburger, either. © Carol Davis 2-16-2016
These little dung beetles were a bit smaller than the red ones I found on buffalo dung
on Antelope Island the same day. © Carol Davis 11-3-2010
Just like the red ones, these little brown ones tended to crash land with their wings still out. There
were lots of dung beetles flying around this one small section of dung. It wasn't that fresh either -
must be the old real estate cliche, "location, location, location!" Carol Davis 11-3-2010
This is the first one of these I found on Antelope Island on buffalo doo last year. Bugguide.net
identified it as Aphodius distinctus so I'm assuming the two pictured above are the same species.
I understand the color patterns are many with this species. © Carol Davis, 3-15-2009
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