Dung Beetle Onthophagus taurus Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Family: Scarabaeidae Genus: Onthophagus Species: Taurus General Characteristics According to Northern Flagship Institute (http://www.nfi.co.za/coleoptera/ beetles/dung beetles.htm), dung beetles are invertebrate insects (order: coleoptera, family: scarabaeidae). They vary in size from two to thirty millimeters in body length. They are composed of three body segments - the head, the prothorax, and the abdomen. They have a hard …showed first 75 words of 1276 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1276 total…Investment in the Genus Onthophagus. Journal of Zoology, 3:405-412. SHAFIEI, M., MOCZED, A. P., AND NIJHOUT, H. F. 2001. Food Availability Controls the Onset of Metamorhposis in the Dung Beetle Onthophagus taurus. Physiological Entomology, 2:173-180. SHAFIEI, M. 1991. Starvation as a Cue for Metamorphosis in Onthophagus taurus Larvae. Science, 254:873-874. SIMMONS, L. W., TOMKINS, J. L., AND HUNT, J. 1999. Sperm Competition Games Played by Dimorphic Male Beetles. Proceedings of the Royal Society Biological Sciences Series B, 1415:145-150