Authorship and date of publication of the name Scarabaeus stercorosus (currently Anoplotrupes stercorosus) (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Geotrupidae)
Abstract
The scientific literature shows no consistency in attributing the authorship of the name for the dor beetle, Anoplotrupes stercorosus (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae: Geotrupinae: Geotmpini). The species is widespread all over Europe, Siberia, Turkey (Nikolajev et al. 2016), and Iran (Samin et al. 2018), feeding on dung, carrion, mushrooms, mouldy litter, heaps of marc, and tree sap (Koch [1991]: 351; Byk & Semkiw 2010).
Most authors who dealt with the taxon credited its authorship to Ludwig Gottlieb Scriba, the author of the paper in which the taxon was described, while few others stated that Hartmann-cited by Scriba himself in the same paper-is responsible for the name. There has been no agreement even on the publication year of the original description, although the majority of authors dated it to 1791.
The aim of this paper is to establish once and for all the authorship of the specific name and the publication date of the paper in which the taxon was first described.