Bug FAQCommon dung beetle
Aphodius fimetarius · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Scarabaeidae
Also called: European Dung Beetle, Red Back Dung Beetle, red dung beetle
Adult farmer scarab beetles are 5 to 7.5 mm long and have a black body with red elytra and pronotum corners. They are found in horse and cow dung and feed on that material. Their range includes the Palaearctic region, northern Oriental region, North America and Australia.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
The beetle’s body is black, while the wing covers and the front corners of the pronotum are red.
Source: Wikipedia
Size
Adults measure about 5 to 7.5 mm in length.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
Specimens have been collected from horse and cow dung.
Source: Wikipedia
What it eats
It feeds on horse and cow dung.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it is found in the US
Recorded in 43 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Colorado, California, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, New York.
Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.
Source: GBIF
Months it is reported in the US
Source: GBIF
More photos
Questions people ask
What do they look like?
They have a black body with red wing covers and red front corners of the pronotum.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Scarabaeidae)
Japanese BeetlePopillia japonicaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Common Green June BeetleCotinis nitidaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Phyllophaga crinitaPhyllophaga crinitaDamages trees, gardens or crops
European Rose ChaferCetonia aurata
Mediterranean Spotted ChaferOxythyrea funestaDamages trees, gardens or crops
Oriental BeetleExomala orientalisDamages trees, gardens or cropsSources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aphodius_fimetarius
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-23 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-23.