Scarabaeus sacer

Scarabaeus sacer, common namesacred scarab,is thetype speciesof the genusScarabaeusand the familyScarabaeidae. Thisdung beetleis native of southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia, and it was venerated inancient Egypt.
Scarabaeus sacerwas described byCarl Linnaeusin his 175810th editionofSystema Naturae, the starting point ofzoological nomenclature. It is considered thetype speciesof the genusScarabaeus, despite some controversy surroundingLatreille's1810 type designation,which was resolved by a ruling of theInternational Commission on Zoological Nomenclaturein 2014, to acceptHope's1837 designation ofS. saceras the type rather than Latreille's 1810 designation (ofDynastes hercules).
Scarabaeus saceris found in southern Europe, northern Africa and western Asia. It has been recorded fromAfghanistan,Albania,Armenia,Azerbaijan,Bulgaria,Cyprus,Egypt,Eritrea,Ethiopia,France(includingCorsica),Greece,Hungary,Iran,Iraq,Israel,Italy(includingSardiniaandSicily),Jordan,India(Kashmir),Libya,Mauritania,Montenegro,Morocco,Palestine,Pakistan,Romania,Portugal,Russia(southernmost),Saudi Arabia,Serbia,Spain,Sudan,Syria,Turkey,TurkistanandUkraine.In Europe, much of the distribution ofS. saceris in coastal regions near theMediterraneanand theBlack Sea, where it often inhabitsdunesand marshes. For example, in theCamargue, it is almost exclusively found in coastal dunes and coastal marshes.
Scarabaeus saceris a robust, all-black beetle where adults are 1.9–4.0 cm (0.7–1.6 in) long.The head has a distinctive array of six projections, resembling rays.The projections are uniform with four more projections on each of thetibiaeof the front legs, creating an arc of fourteen "rays" (see illustration). Functionally the projections are adaptations for digging and for shaping the ball of dung.
Like the front legs of other beetles of its genus, but unlike those of dung beetles in most other genera, the front legs ofScarabaeus sacerare unusual; they do not end in any recognisabletarsus, the foot that bears the claws.There is only avestigialclaw-like structure that might be of some assistance in digging. The mid- and hind-legs ofScarabaeushave normal, well-developed 5-segmented tarsi, but the front legs are specialised for excavation and for forming balls of dung.
Among thecoprophagousspecies of beetles,Scarabaeus saceris typical of those that collect dung into balls, which also are known as telecoprids. Such a beetle rolls its ball to a suitable location, where it digs an underground chamber in which it hides the ball. It then eats the ball itself, a process that may take several days.
When the female is ready to breed she selects especially fine-textured dung to make her breeding ball, and digs an especially deep and large chamber for it. There she sculpts it into a pear-shape with a hollow cavity in the narrow part. In that cavity she lays a single large egg. She then seals the cavity and departs to repeat the process elsewhere. Typically a successful femaleScarabaeus sacerwill produce only about half a dozen young in her life.Thelarvafeeds on the ball of dung after the egg hatches.
Scarabaeus sacerserves as the host for thephoreticmiteMacrocheles saceri.
Scarabaeus saceris the most famous of thescarab beetles.To theAncient Egyptians,S. sacerwas a symbol ofKhepri, the early morning manifestation of the sun godRa, from an analogy between the beetle's behaviour of rolling a ball of dung across the ground and Khepri's task of rolling the sun across the sky.They accordingly held the species to besacred.
The Egyptians also observed young beetles emerging from the ball of dung, from which they mistakenly inferred that the male beetle was able to reproduce without needing a female, simply by injecting his sperm into the ball of dung. From this, they drew parallels with their godAtum, who also begat children alone.
Scarabaeus sacerwas the species which first piqued the interest ofWilliam Sharp Macleayand drew him into a career inentomology.