Published May 8, 2025 | Version v1
Taxonomic treatment Open

Omorgus costatus

Description

Omorgus costatus (Wiedemann, 1823)

(Fig. 1C)

AUSTRALIA; INDONESIA; MALAYSIA. This species is widespread through the Oriental and Australasian Regions (Scholtz, 1986b; Strümpher & Kalawate, 2023). It is often encountered in caves, where it has repeatedly been recorded feeding on, burrowing into, and breeding in bat guano (Blair, 1929; Chapman, 1983; Leefmans, 1932; McClure et al., 1967; Moulds, 2004; Scholtz, 1986b). McClure et al.(1967) reportedthat adults,larvae and pupae of the species lived inside the guano of a Malaysian cave and was rarely seen on the surface. Arrow (1927) additionally reported that Omorgus costatus was collected from bat guano in hollow trees in Malaysia. Moulds (2004) categorised this trogid species as a troglophile and possibly a guanophile; we confirm here that the species is indeed bat-guanophilic, since narrow associations with bat guano have been observed repeatedly.

Notes

Published as part of Strümpher, Werner P. & Stals, Riaan, 2025, A world list of known cave- and bat guano-associated Trogidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea), and further range extension of Omorgus lindemannae (Petrovitz), pp. 1-11 in Faunitaxys 13 (9) on page 5, DOI: 10.57800/faunitaxys-13(09), http://zenodo.org/record/15366026

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Linked records

Additional details

Biodiversity

Scientific name authorship
Wiedemann
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Arthropoda
Order
Coleoptera
Family
Trogidae
Genus
Omorgus
Species
costatus
Taxon rank
species
Taxonomic concept label
Omorgus costatus (Wiedemann, 1823) sec. Strümpher & Stals, 2025

References

  • Scholtz C. H., 1986 b. - Revision of the genus Trox Fabricius (Coleoptera: Trogidae) of the Australasian Region. Australian Journal of Zoology, Supplementary Series, 34 (125): 1-99. https://doi.org/10.1071/AJZS125.
  • Strumpher W. P. & Kalawate A. S., 2023. - Omorgus (Omorgus) khandesh (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Trogidae), a new species from India, along with an annotated catalogue of the Oriental and Palearctic species of the subgenus Omorgus Erichson, 1847. Zootaxa, 5231 (5): 501-522. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5231.5.1
  • Blair K. G., 1929. - Fauna of the Batu Caves, Selangor. XVII. Coleoptera. Journal of the Federated Malay States Museums, 14: 381-387.
  • Chapman P. R. J., 1983. - Species diversity in a tropical cave ecosystem. Proceedings of the University of Bristol Spelaeological Society, 16 (3): 201-213.
  • Leefmans S., 1932. - Biologische gegevens van een in grotten levenden Trox uit Zuid-Celebes (Trox costatus Wied. var.) (Lamellicornia, Scarabaeidae, Trogini). Tijdschrift voor Entomologie, 75: 36-43.
  • McClure H. E., Lim B. - L. & Winn S. E., 1967. - Fauna of the Dark Cave, Batu Caves, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pacific Insects, 9 (3): 399-428.
  • Moulds T., 2004. - Review of Australian cave guano ecosystems with a checklist of guano invertebrates. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 125: 1-42.