Taxonomic review of the North American dung beetle genus Melanocanthon Halffter, 1958 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae: Deltochilini)

Abstract

This paper presents a taxonomic review of the genus Melanocanthon Halffter, a group of ball-rolling (telocoprid) dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae) endemic to eastern North America. The genus comprises five species, each keyed, diagnosed, illustrated and presented with information on distribution, relationships, and biology: Melanocanthon punctaticollis (Schaeffer), M. granulifer (Schmidt), M.nigricornis (Say), M. bispinatus (Robinson) and Melanocanthon vulturnus Edmonds, new species.