Scarab Beetles of Hawai'i

Many scarab beetle species that exist in Hawai'i today were purposefully introduced in the early 1900's for ranching. Hawai'i had no endemic dung beetles, so with the rise of ranching, came the need for scarabs. Many of these "tumble bugs" were imported from Africa, Mexico and New South Wales. They efficiently prevent the build-up of manure (i.e. manure recycling) by rolling it into "brood balls",or small pellets of manure, and burying them for nesting purposes. In addition to their use in manure recycling, scientists hoped the dung beetles would serve as a biological control for horn flies by pulverizing manure before the flies could settle. Although many scarabs are advantageous, some adventive species have become dangerous pests in Hawai'i. Among these is the Chinese Rose Beetle, which attacks over 250 plant species. By transcribing the Insect Museum's collection of scarabs, you can help analyze current and past distribution of both advantageous and harmful scarab beetles.This expedition of 604 tasks is fully transcribed and validated. This data resource is harvested periodically into the main occurrence index.