OPEN ACCESS The Journal of Threatened Taxa is dedicated to building evidence for conservaton globally by publishing peer-reviewed artcles online every month at a reasonably rapid rate at www.threatenedtaxa.org. All artcles published in JoTT are registered under Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License unless otherwise mentoned. JoTT allows unrestricted use of artcles in any medium, reproducton, and distributon by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publicaton. Journal of Threatened Taxa Building evidence for conservaton globally www.threatenedtaxa.org ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Short Communication Description of life stages of dung beetle Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with notes on nesting and biology Suvarna S. Khadakkar, Ashish D. Tiple & Arun M. Khurad 26 December 2018 | Vol. 10 | No. 15 | Pages: 12990–12994 10.11609/jot.3935.10.15.12990-12994 For Focus, Scope, Aims, Policies and Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-0 For Artcle Submission Guidelines visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions For Policies against Scientfc Misconduct visit htps://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/about/editorialPolicies#custom-2 For reprints contact <[email protected]> Publisher & Host Partners Member Threatened Taxa Journal of Threatened Taxa | www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 December 2018 | 10(15): 12990–12994 Description of life stages of dung beetle Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) with notes on nesting and biology Short Communication Short ISSN 0974-7893 (Print) Suvarna S. Khadakkar 1 , Ashish D. Tiple 2 & Arun M. Khurad 3 OPEN ACCESS 1,3 Centre for Sericulture and Biological Pest Management Research (CSBR), RTM Nagpur University, North Ambazari Road, Nagpur, Maharashtra 440022, India 2 Department of Zoology, Vidyabhart College, Seloo, Wardha, Maharashtra 442104, India 1 [email protected] (corresponding author), 2 [email protected], 3 [email protected] Abstract: Immature stages of Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius) are forage by clearing excrement (Arrow 1931). Adult males described for the frst tme along with notes on nidifcaton and biology. of S. rhadamistus are atractve owing to the coloraton The larvae difer from other Scarabaeinae species in the structure of raster on tenth sternum with two irregular bunches of serratons and structure of pronotum. ventrally one on either half. Pupae with pronotum transverse having Much of the literature available relatng to scarab rounded margins resemble adults, and consist of four lateral, single caudal and single pteronotal support projecton. Adult males and beetles are on adult taxonomy. Informaton regarding females difer in coloraton, structure of pronotum, presence of spine their immature forms and nest-building behaviour like process on mesosternum and, in the structure of male and female is defcient (Ritcher 1966; Veeresh 1980; Sreedevi & genitalia. Tyagi 2014). Studies on natural history of dung beetles Keywords: Descripton, immatures, nestng, scarab beetle, Scaptodera of the subfamily Scarabaeinae lack the informaton rhadamistus. on S. rhadamistus (Halfer & Mathews 1966). The objectve of this study is to present an account of larval morphology and nest-building behavior of S. Beetles belonging to family Scarabaeidae are rhadamistus, a commonly found scarab in central Indian commonly called as ‘Scarabs’ and their larvae are known region, based on a study conducted in and around as white grubs. Arrow (1931) provided detailed account Nagpur-Wardha forest areas. of Indian Scarabaeidae. The monotypic Scaptodera Species diagnosis: In life, adults are yellowish- rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775), was previously cited as orange with metallic green colored patches present on Liatongus (Paraliatongus) Reiter under tribe Onitcellini dorsal and lateral regions, elongate, oval; 13–15 mm in of subfamily Scarabaeinae (Hanski & Cambefort 1991; length and 6–8 mm in width. Males have a prominent Philips 2016). Larvae of diferent stages and adults pronotum with elevated margins forming deep cavity at DOI: htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3935.10.15.12990-12994 | ZooBank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:3C6C9BAF-F36F-493E-A2F6-FC68979D5426 Editor: B.K. Agarwala, Tripura University, West Tripura, India. Date of publicaton: 26 December 2018 (online & print) Manuscript details: Ms # 3935 | Received 02 December 2017 | Final received 29 October 2018 | Finally accepted 05 December 2018 Citaton: Khadakkar, S.S., A.D. Tiple & A.M. Khurad (2018). Descripton of life stages of dung beetle Scaptodera rhadamistus (Fabricius, 1775) (Coleoptera: Scarabaei- dae: Scarabaeinae) with notes on nestng and biology. Journal of Threatened Taxa 10(15): 12990–12994; htps://doi.org/10.11609/jot.3935.10.15.12990-12994 Copyright: © Khadakkar et al. 2018. Creatve Commons Atributon 4.0 Internatonal License. JoTT allows unrestricted use of this artcle in any medium, reproducton and distributon by providing adequate credit to the authors and the source of publicaton. Funding: None. Competng interests: The authors declare no competng interests. Acknowledgements: We are thankful to Dr. M. M. Rai, Cordinator and Dr. M. K. Rathod, Scientst, Centre for Sericulture and Biological Pest Management Research, Nagpur for providing necessary facilites to conduct the following studies and encouragement. The authors are also thankful to State Biodiversity Board, Maharashtra for providing permission to collect scarab beetles. First author acknowledges the help of Dr Sandhya Kranthi, Head of Plant Protecton division, and Dr. Vishlesh Nagrare, Principle Scientst, Central Insttute for Coton Research, Nagpur, MS forLOGOs permitng use of Binoculor for morphometric studies. 12990 Life stages of Scaptodera rhadamistus Khadakkar et al. middle, anteriorly forming a short process that refexes mm); average maximum width in the middle 2.3 ± 0.11 backwards distnguishing this species from other species mm (n = 10, range 2.3–2.5 mm); one egg is laid per of the same genus. Males and females difer in size and brood ball, the egg is held vertcally and atached to the structure of pronotum, and in structure of spine-like substratum at the basal end with apical end bearing a process on mesosternum. Females are smaller, with small hump (Image 3). simple pronotum. B. Larva (III Instar): Larvae translucent in The species is natve to Oriental region (India, Laos, appearance; body covered with very fne setae; humped Sri Lanka, and Thailand) (Schoolmeesters 2017). In in the middle giving a ‘V’ shaped appearance to the body; India, the species occurs in the states of Gujarat, Madhya average length 19 ± 0.20 mm (n = 5, range 18.8–19.3 mm), Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu (Chandra & average width at abdominal hump 7 ± 0.15 mm (n = 5, Ahirwar 2005; Chandra et al. 2011; Mital & Jain 2015). range 6.8– 7.2 mm) (Image 4). Clypeus wider than long, rectangular, lateral margins straight, posterior margin Materials and Methods bilobed; irregular row of seven to nine setae in middle; Adults and brood balls of S. rhadamistus from cranium surface smooth; frons with one seta each at open grazing felds of Kavdas Village and nearby areas anterior angle to the dorsal surface of head, three to of Wardha District, Maharashtra were collected. This four anterior frontal setae on each side, posterior frontal region lies on the periphery of Bor Wildlife Sanctuary. setae absent; remaining cranial surface with two para- Field-collected brood balls were maintained in the ocellar setae, and with a row of eight dorso-epicranial laboratory at temperature and relatve humidity of setae (Image 5); antennae four segmented each; 270C ± 20C and 65–75 %, respectvely (Hayes 1929). labrum symmetrical, trilobed, broadly oval; maxillary Morphology was described from fve specimens, each stridulatory area with a row of 8–10 teeth; epipharynx of III Instar larvae, pupae, and adult males and females. chaetoparie each with 9–11 setae (Image 7); mandibles Larvae were kept in boiling water for about three stout, with single median seta, incisor lobes with three minutes, followed by cooling, and preservaton in 70% teeth on lef mandible and two on right mandible (Image alcohol or glycerol to prevent shrinking (Ritcher 1966). 8). Three pairs of thoracic legs, each two segmented, Leica S8APO stereoscopic microscope was used to study with 10–12 fne setae, claws absent (Image 9). Raster on the morphological characters, for photography, and 10th sternum with two irregular bunches of serratons for morphometry. Terminology of Edmonds & Hafer ventrally one on either half distnct. (1978) was followed. Adult specimens were washed in C. Pupa: Pupa exarate; pronotum transverse with soap water to clear dirt, rinsed in clear water, air-dried to rounded margins resembling adults; four thumb like remove the moisture, oven-dried for about two hours, tergal support projectons, one per segment present labeled, and studied. Arrow (1931) was followed for laterally on abdominal segments three to six (Image 10). morphological characterizaton. Pronotal support projecton absent. One pteronotal Male genitalia were dissected out from the adults support projecton present. Caudal projecton callus-like under stereoscopic microscope. Individual male (Image 11). genitalia was further boiled in 10% KOH soluton, D. Adult: Male - body yellowish-orange, with washed in water, treated with glacial