Aphodius rufipes - underside of head

Aphodius rufipes is a dung beetle, feeding on horse, sheep, and cattle dung. At night it can fly great distances in search of new food sources, but it is attracted to light, and so can often be found flying into houses or gardens at night, despite no food sources being nearby.

The female beetle lays its eggs in dung, which the larvae also use as their food source. Aphodius rufipes beetles are often host to small brown mites, these mites are actually beneficial to the beetle as they feed on moulds that would otherwise spoil the dung as the food source for the beetle's larvae. The mites cling to the underside and legs of the beetle, and so travel to new food sources along with the beetle.

Aphodius rufipes indivduals range in size from 9-14mm, and are coloured dark brown to black. The wing cases (elytra) are ridged, while the pronotum is finely punctured with a few larger punctures.

• Biota
• Life
• Vitae
• Eukaryota
• Animalia
• Animals
• Arthropoda
• Arthropods
• Insecta
• Insects
• Coleoptera
• Beetles
• Aphodius rufipes
• Aphodiidae
• Aphodius
• Dung beetles

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