Kheper

{{short description|Genus of beetles}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|image=Kheper dung beetle.jpg

|image_caption= Kheper nigroaeneus in South Africa

|taxon=Kheper

|authority=Janssens, 1940

|subdivision_ranks=Species

|subdivision=

}}

Kheper is a subgenus of Scarabaeus: the typical genus of scarab beetles in the tribe Scarabaeini.[https://www.biolib.cz/en/taxon/id616924/ BioLib (retrieved 23 August 2021)]{{cite journal|doi=10.1111/j.1365-3113.2004.00273.x|title=Evolution of the Scarabaeini (Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae)|year=2005|last1=Forgie|first1=Shaun A.|last2=Philips|first2=T. Keith|last3=Scholtz|first3=Clarke H.|journal=Systematic Entomology|volume=30|issue=1|pages=60–96}} The genus name honors the god Khepri in the ancient Egyptian religion, who is depicted as having a scarab for a head.{{cite book|last=Wilkinson|first=Richard H.|date=2003|title=The Complete Gods and Goddesses of Ancient Egypt|publisher=Thames & Hudson|pages=230–233}} Kheper can be found on the border between Botswana, Namibia, and South Africa in the arid sand dunes.{{Cite journal|last=Deschodt|first=Christian|last2=Davis|first2=Adrian|last3=Scholtz|first3=Clarke|date=2011|title=New dung beetle (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) taxa from arid south-western Africa|url=https://brill.com/view/journals/ise/42/3/article-p277_2.xml|journal=Insect Systematics & Evolution|volume=42|issue=3|pages=277–294|doi=10.1163/187631211X568173|issn=1399-560X|hdl=2263/19586|hdl-access=free}} This genus of scarab beetles share a family with the oldest and most revered scarab beetles, the Scarabaeus sacer.