Kelso-dunes
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Polyphylla aeolus
Kelso Dunes June Beetle
Polyphylla aeolus is a sand dune specialist scarab beetle endemic to California's Kelso Dunes in the Mojave Desert. Described by La Rue in 1998, this species belongs to a genus noted for large-bodied beetles with males possessing greatly enlarged, fan-like antennae used to detect female sex pheromones. Like other Polyphylla species restricted to sand habitats, females are likely flightless and rarely encountered. The species epithet references Aeolus, the Roman king of the winds, perhaps alluding to the wind-dispersed nature of related taxa or the windy dune environment.