Sand-ridge-specialist
Guides
Mycotrupes gaigei
North peninsular mycotrupes beetle
Mycotrupes gaigei is a flightless, allopatric earth-boring scarab beetle endemic to deep sand ridges in northwestern peninsular Florida. It is considered the most morphologically aberrant member of its genus, characterized by metathoracic wing degradation and median fusion of prothoracic elytrae. The species is an efficient burrower, tunneling through sand to depths exceeding six feet. It maintains an exclusive phoretic relationship with the mite Geotrupacarus mycotrupetes, which does not occur on any other Mycotrupes species.