Europe, the Caucasus and western Siberia
Fine-art photographic collection
Anoplotrupes stercorosus
A forest beetle that buries decaying material deep enough to engineer the soil around it.
About this species
Woodland dor beetle
Anoplotrupes stercorosus(Scriba, 1791)
Information reviewed17 July 2026
Anoplotrupes stercorosus is a widespread Eurasian earth-boring beetle of woodland and forest tracks. Adults dig below food resources and provision underground chambers with leaf litter, dung and other decaying material; the larvae develop on this buried store.
Taxonomy
Animalia · Arthropoda · Insecta · Coleoptera · Geotrupidae · Anoplotrupes
Source checked · checked 2026-07-17
Europe, the Caucasus and western SiberiaBroad documented range and representative regional anchors — not a complete occurrence map.
Fresh broad-leaved, mixed and coniferous forest; much less abundant in waterlogged, boggy and alder-swamp habitats.
Adults are encountered from spring to autumn, with strong activity in summer and early autumn; flight is most often in the evening.
Adults use mouldy litter, animal droppings, fungi and tree sap; larvae feed on buried decomposing plant material.
Solitary, although many adults may gather around the same food resource.
What makes this species remarkable?
The larval nursery is underground: adults bury a compact food mass roughly 15–35 centimetres deep, where the grub develops out of sight.
By moving organic material into mineral soil, the beetle enriches deeper layers and increases soil aeration and permeability.
A Białowieża Forest study trapped 14,980 individuals and found the species strongly concentrated in fresh forest habitats while avoiding the wettest ground.
More photographs
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