Phanaeus triangularis

Phanaeus triangularis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Scarabaeidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Phanaeus triangularis
Photo: northerly, CC BY

Phanaeus triangularis is a true dung beetle that belongs to the scarab family.

Source: Wikipedia

How to recognize it

Phanaeus triangularis is a North American dung beetle in the family Scarabaeidae.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Its range is the eastern half of the United States.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 19 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Kansas, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Phanaeus triangularis photo 2
Photo: Lance Andrew, CC BY
Phanaeus triangularis photo 3
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Phanaeus triangularis photo 4
Photo: Justine Anderson, CC BY
Phanaeus triangularis photo 5
Photo: danpatrick, CC BY

Same family (Scarabaeidae)

Japanese BeetleJapanese BeetlePopillia japonicaDamages trees, gardens or cropsCommon Green June BeetleCommon Green June BeetleCotinis nitidaDamages trees, gardens or cropsPhyllophaga crinitaPhyllophaga crinitaDamages trees, gardens or cropsEuropean Rose ChaferEuropean Rose ChaferCetonia aurataMediterranean Spotted ChaferMediterranean Spotted ChaferOxythyrea funestaDamages trees, gardens or cropsOriental BeetleOriental BeetleExomala orientalisDamages trees, gardens or crops

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phanaeus_triangularis

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-27 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-27.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.