As their common name implies, they generally frequent cattle and horse dung and where this is found, so too are Dung Beetles .... and very often by the thousands. They are common flyers and regularly seen taking to the air on the first warm days of Spring, or on similarly warm days in the Autumn.

Most Aphodius beetles are quite difficult to identify to species level (particularly at first) but the medium that they are found in, is probably the most off-putting from many naturalists point of view.

As disconcerting their choice of habitat might appear to be, it should be noted that Dung Beetles play a vitaly important role in assisting the decomposition of cattle and horse dung, perhaps reducing the actual decomposition time by 50%.

Nottinghamshire currently has a wide ranging list of the (typically) commoner Aphodius species, but there remains plenty of scope for several new additions, of which Labarrus lividus from a manure heap at Ollerton village in early 2021, is just such an example. Three nationally notable (Nb) Aphodius known to occur in Nottinghamshire are Chilothorax distinctus, Chilothorax paykulli and Sigorus porcus. Species shown with a red asterisk*, are believed known from historical records only.

Recent changes to Aphodius nomenclature

Aphodius nomenclature has recently undegone significant changes and the former Subgenera names have become the Genera. For instance Aphodius ater is now Agrilinus ater and Aphodius prodromus is now Melinopterus prodromus. How soon before someone comes along and reassigns them all back to Aphodius is anyone's guess.