Meet Hathoronthophagus spinosa and Onthophagus pragtig
In another paper, Deschodt described yet another new species. Onthophagus pragtig most likely only feeds on the innards of dead millipedes. It is one of 20 species that is part of a small group of dung beetles in the genus Onthophagus. All other species in this group are known to prefer feeding on the soft internal organs (or viscera) of dead millipedes.
“The epithet ‘pragtig’ is Afrikaans for ‘splendid’,” he explains. “It links this species with some other very closely related species within the same group, namely Onthophagus splendidus and Onthophagus splendidoides. All of them seem to prefer sandy soils.
Christian Deschodt realised this was the female of a species that he’d never seen before. He named it after ‘Hathor’, an ancient Egyptian deity associated with joy, love, women, fertility and maternal care. She was often portrayed as a woman wearing a headdress of cow horns similar to the longish horns of Hathoronthophagus spinosa
He was walking to school to pick up his children, Kara and Chris, when he made the discovery.
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