Sisyphus (beetle)

{{Automatic taxobox

| image = Sisyphus.longipes.jpg

| image_caption = Sisyphus longipes

| taxon = Sisyphus

| authority = Latreille, 1807

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision =

see text

}}

Sisyphus is a genus of dung beetles comprising more than 90 species.{{cite web|title=Sisyphus - Taxonomy|url=http://insectoid.info/insecta/pterygota/neoptera/holometabola/coleoptera/polyphaga/scarabaeiformia/scarabaeoidea/scarabaeidae/scarabaeinae/sisyphini/sisyphus/|website=insectoid.info|accessdate=29 July 2016}} Adults are characterised by their long hind legs.{{cite journal|last1=Davis|first1=Adrian L. V.|last2=Scholtz|first2=Clarke H.|last3=Philips|first3=T. Keith|title=Historical biogeography of scarabaeine dung beetles|journal=Journal of Biogeography|date=September 2002|volume=29|issue=9|pages=1217–1256|doi=10.1046/j.1365-2699.2002.00776.x|s2cid=84689235 }}

Distribution

Africa, Eurasia, Asia, Central America and Australia.

Habits

Adults separate balls of dung from droppings and roll them some distance over the soil surface before burying them. Eggs are laid in the buried dung; this provides a source of food for the larvae once they hatch.

Species

One common species is Sisyphus schaefferi (Linnaeus, 1758).

References

Category:Scarabaeinae