First record of Megasternum concinnum (Marsham, 1802) – a minute coprophagous water-scavenger beetle (Coleoptera: Hydrophilidae) from the dung of the water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) (Mammalia: Bovidae) in the Hula Valley, Israel

Friedman & Furth 2026.pdf
Published: Feb 19, 2026
Keywords:
Water-scavenger beetles Hydrophilidae coprophagous beetles coprophilous beetles Hula Lake Hula Nature Reserve Israel Levant Near East
Ariel-Leib-Leonid Friedman
The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Israel National Center for Biodiversity Studies, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel. E-mail: [email protected]";}
David G. Furth
The Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University / Israel; Department of Entomology, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. / USA
Abstract

A minute coprophagous water-scavenger beetle Megasternum concinnum was found in the Hula Valley (the northmost part of the Great Rift Valley), Israel, in the dung of the semi-domesticated water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis). The water buffalo is not an original component of the Israeli fauna, but the exact time of its introduction dims out in antiquity. This is the first record of M. concinnum in Southern Levant, and the first report of the beetle fauna of water buffalo dung in Israel.


 

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