Galapagos Species Database

The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.

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Omorgus suberosus (Fabricius, 1775)

escarabajo

Scavenger on dry animal carcasses; a major predator on sea turtle eggs; littoral, arid and transition zones, rarely humid forest zone; January–June, September, December; at lights, FIT, in carrion and dung bait traps. Low egg-hatching rates in the green sea turtle Chelonia mydas (Linnaeus) in the Galápagos are because of predation by feral pigs and Omorgus (=Trox) suberosus (Fabricius). This has a devastating effect; it occurs in 96.7% of all sea turtle nests, and causes up to 21.6% egg mortality (Green 1975, Hurtado 1984). Rosano-Hernández and Deloya (2002) concluded that the beetle is not a predator specialist on sea turtle eggs, but is necrophagous-saprophagous on these on the Pacific coast of Mexico. It is not clear if the beetles attack eggs and nests which have not been disturbed by pigs.

Taxonomy

Domain
Eukaryota

Kingdom
Animalia

Phylum
Arthropoda

Class
Insecta

Order
Coleoptera

Suborder
Polyphaga

Superfamily
Scarabaeoidea

Family
Trogidae

Genus
Omorgus

Species
suberosus

Taxon category: Accepted

Syn.: Trox suberosus Fabricius, 1775, fide Peck (2006)

Origin: Native

Distribution

Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.

Distribution: Bartolomé, Caamaño, Campéon, Floreana, Genovesa, Isabela, Marchena, Pinta, Rábida, San Cristóbal, Santa Cruz, Santiago

References

  • Peck, S.B. (2006) The Beetles of the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador: Evolution, Ecology, and Diversity (Insecta: Coleoptera) NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 314 pp.
  • Linsley, E.G. Usinger, R.L. (1966) Insects of the Galápagos Islands. Proceedings of the California Academy of Sciences Fourth Series 33(7): 113-196.
  • Van Dyke, E.C. (1953) The Coleoptera of the Galapagos Islands. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 22: 1-181.
  • Mutchler, A.J. (1925) Coleoptera. From the Williams Galapagos Expedition. Zoologica 5(20): 219-240.
  • Scholtz, C.H. (1990) Revision of the Trogidae of South America (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea). Journal of Natural History 24(6): 1391-1456.

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This page should be cited as follows:

"Galapagos Species Database, Omorgus suberosus", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=6724. Accessed 10 June 2025.