Oxysternon

The genus Sternaspis was proposed first by Hope in 1837, but the name was preoccupied and thus invalid. Laporte, writing under the pen name of Le Compte de Castelnau, proposed the genus Oxysternon to include several species of Phaneus-like species. O. festivum was later designated as the type species.[2][1]

The genus is monophyletic and its sister group is the genus Phanaeus. Two subgenera and two further species groups are recognized by some authors. It has been suggested that the current distribution of the species reflect vicariance events following climatic fluctuations in the Amazon.[1]

There are currently 11 species in the genus Oxysternon.[3]

• Oxysternon conspicillatum Weber, 1801
• Oxysternon durantoni Arnaud, 1984
• Oxysternon ebeninum (Nevinson, 1890)
• Oxysternon festivum (Linnaeus, 1767)[4]
• Oxysternon lautum (Macleay, 1819)
• Oxysternon macleayi (Nevinson, 1892)
• Oxysternon palaemon Laporte, 1840
• Oxysternon pteroderum Nevinson, 1892
• Oxysternon silenus Laporte, 1840
• Oxysternon spiniferum Laporte, 1840
• Oxysternon striatopunctatum Olsoufieff, 1924

Oxysternon is a neotropical genus occurring north of the Tropic of Capricorn and east of the Andes. Only two, widespread species are found in the northwest of South America and up to the southern portion of Central America. Most Oxysternon species have restricted distributions within the Amazon basin, the Guiana Shield, the Cerrado region and the Atlantic coastal forest of Brazil.[1]

O. palaemon is a common beetle in the cerrado formations of Brazil and adjacent areas of Bolivia and Paraguay. All other species inhabit supermoist to mesic forest habitats with different degrees of tolerance to fragmentation and forest degradation.[1][5]

The behavior of Oxysternon species has not been studied in detail. All species seem to be coprophagous or copro-necrophagous, although fruit pulp is sometimes used as an adult food resource.[6]