Heteronychus arator
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~20%
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.
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| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Table Mountain National Park | 🇿🇦 South Africa |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report an African Black Beetle sighting in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 19 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 165th most-seen of the 344 insects we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February and March
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report an African Black Beetle in Table Mountain National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April to January, the lowest months. Those are among Table Mountain National Park's driest months, with about 20 mm of rain a month against 110 mm in June.
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.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate African Black Beetle sightings, Table Mountain National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Royal National Park (Australia, about 10%) and Blue Mountains National Park (Australia, about 10%).
Same family: Scarabaeidae
The closest relatives of the African Black Beetle that you can see in Table Mountain National Park (family Scarabaeidae, Scarabs) are White-Spotted Fruit Chafer (about 10%), Green Protea Chafer (about 10%) and Cape Protea Chafer (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 Table Mountain National Park (19 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
