About Anoplotrupes stercorosus (Hartmann, 1791)
Adult Anoplotrupes stercorosus grow to a length of 12–19 millimetres (0.47–0.75 inches), and do not reach the size of the very closely related common dung beetle Geotrupes stercorarius. The body of A. stercorosus is blue-black, and its underside is usually metallic blue. Its elytra have seven longitudinal, slightly dotted grooves. Its wings can show blue, violet, or green coloration, and its antennae are reddish brown. A key difference between this species and G. stercorarius is that the outer side of the third pair of leg tibiae has only two keels in A. stercorosus, compared to three keels in G. stercorarius. This beetle is distributed across most of Europe and Asia, and also occurs in other regions of the world where cattle have been introduced, such as Australia. Its habitat includes fresh broadleaf forest areas, primarily beech forests, moist mixed forests, and fresh coniferous forests.
