Heteronychus arator
In 3 days ~20% in a week ~40%
Heteronychus arator (hetero+onychus = 'variable claw', arator = 'ploughman') is a species of beetle in the subfamily Dynastinae (the rhinoceros beetles). It is commonly called African black beetle or black lawn beetle. It is native to Africa and it is an introduced species in Australia, Norfolk Island and the North Island of New Zealand.
It is a shiny black (or dark reddish brown) oval-shaped beetle 12-15 millimeters long. The head lacks a carina or tubercles, unlike some other scarabs. The clypeus is truncate with distinct lateral margins, and dentate with a denticle in the middle. Each mandible has 2-3 teeth on the outer edge and is visible when looking at the beetle from above. Each antenna is 10-segmented and ends in a 3-segmented club. On the underside of the head is a mentum with a rounded apex. Each eye is partially split by a glabrous (smooth) ocular canthus. The pronotum is smooth, convex and lacks punctures. The elytra have rows of shallow striae. The propygidium (dorsal plate of the second-last abdominal segment) has a pair of stridulatory bands. The hind legs have tibiae with truncate apices. All legs end in simple tarsal claws.
Adults feed on... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
With luck
About 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Black Beetle sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 142 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 83rd most-seen of the 742 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 20%, and over a week to about 40%, if each day is a fresh chance.
August to April
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Black Beetle in Sydney on a given day, against under 5% in May to July, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most African Black Beetle sightings with a recorded time, and about 7 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Among the best
Of the 6 cities where we can rate African Black Beetle sightings, Sydney ranks 3rd at about 10%, level with the leaders once rounded. The best odds are in Auckland (New Zealand, about 10%) and Melbourne (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Scarabaeidae
The closest relatives of the African Black Beetle that you can see in Sydney (family Scarabaeidae, Scarabs) are Argentinian Scarab (about 20%), Fiddler Beetle (about 10%) and Cowboy Beetle (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the African Black Beetle is recorded against all the insects logged in Sydney (142 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
