Scarab

The Scarabs are a large family of beetles, estimates suggest that there are more than 30,000 species of beetle in this family. The beetles can be brightly coloured (often with a metallic sheen to their exoskeleton) and have distinctive antennae:

The Scarabs include the dung beetles and these were a significant feature of life in Ancient Egypt. The rolling of dung by these beetles was seen to be representative of the rolling of the sun across the sky.

Due to their large size and noisy flight these beetles are familiar to many people and have a variety of common names.

A photograph of a rose chafer. A well known and attractive scarab.

Other names for (or types of) Scarab include:

• Chafer
• Cockchafer
• June beetle
• June bug
• May bug
• Rose chafer

Related terms

• Coleoptera
• Coprophagous
• Darkling beetle
• Goliath beetle
• Rhinoceros beetle
• Scarabaeiform
• Weevil

Related pages on this web site

• Beetles - Order Coleoptera

See other words beginning with S