NOTES ON THE HABITS AND HABITAT OF GEOTRUPES 
CHALYBAEUS LECONTE IN FLORIDA 1 
By Frank N. Young 
Geotrupes chalybaeus described by LeConte 2 from fragments 
found at Tampa, Florida has long been a rarity in collections. This 
rarity seems to be due to the restricted habitat of the species and 
to its occurrence in the winter and early spring months. In many 
areas of “Scrub” vegetation on St. Lucie and other deep sands it is 
relatively common, and can be trapped in numbers by burying pint 
jars up to the neck in the ground and placing an inch or so of 
molasses and water, honey and water, or decaying mushrooms in the 
bottom. 3 Careful examination of other unusual habitats and use of 
different methods of collecting will probably reveal that many 
“rarities” are really quite common when their exact habitat is known. 
In February, 1949, I stumbled upon a “colony” of Geotrupes 
chalybaeus in a small area of scrub in Putnam County south of In- 
terlachen, Florida. The abundance of this supposedly rare beetle 
in this situation aroused my interest and subsequent collecting and 
observation indicated that the species extends over most of the dry 
sand areas of northern peninsular Florida. Its burrowing habits 
seem to restrict it to deep sands, and it can probably be expected 
wherever such occur within its range — possibly as far north as 
Maryland. There is some indication that local populations differ, 
but further study will be necessary to determine the significance of 
this variation. 
The area in which the beetles were first observed south of Inter- 
lachen is largely covered by a stand of mature sand pines ( Pinus 
clausa ) 4 on St. Lucie sand on top of an elevation completely sur- 
rounded by the ground-water podzols of the Leon-St. Johns series 
Contribution No. 431 from the Department of Zoology, Indiana Uni- 
versity and from the Department of Biology, University of Florida. 
2 Coleoptera of Florida, Proc. Amer. Philos. Soc.. 17, 1878: 402. 
3 See also Hubbell, T. H. A monographic revision of the genus Ceutho- 
philus, Univ. of Fla. Publ., Biol. Sci. Ser., 2(1), 1936, for further notes 
on methods of using “molasses traps.” 
4 Plant names are after Davis, J. H. Natural features of southern 
Florida, Fla. Geol. Surv., Bull. 25, 1943. 
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