Onitis alexis is often found around lights at night and is recognisable by its squarish appearance and metallic sheen. It is a medium sized beetle which grows to about 18 millimetres in length. Onitis alexis is a dung beetle, which was introduced from Africa to improve Australian pastures. It is now well established in Australia and can be found across most of the country. This species helps break down cattle dung because the native dung beetles only like to feed on the dung of Australian native animals. Adults are active at dawn and dusk and are usually attracted to the dung of cattle. When they locate a fresh dung pad, adults will land to feed on the liquids and construct burrows in the soil beneath the pads. These burrows are provisioned with the dung which is formed into balls and serves as food for their developing larvae. This burying action assist in the breakdown of large amounts of dung, which native dung beetles are mainly not adapted for.

Many scarab beetles have large horns on their heads which are often used to fight other male beetles. Onthophagus pentacanthus can grow to be approximately 18 millimetres in length and has quite prominent horns for its size. This species is a native dung beetle and is common throughout much of the Murray-Darling basin and further west in South Australia. Adults are nocturnal and are often attracted to lights at night. They can be found in bovine dung, such as cattle and oxen and can also be collected from pitfall traps baited with human dung. The larvae of Onthophagus pentacanthus are coprophagous, which means they feed on the dung of other animals. The adults construct burrows for their young and presumably provision them with the dung of marsupials which the developing larvae feed on.

Anoplognathus pallidicollis is commonly known as a Christmas beetle as they are usually seen around the summer months feeding on eucalyptus leaves. They are usually large beetles growing to a length of around 20 millimetres. Many other Anoplognathus species are brightly coloured and are often attracted to lights at night. Adult Christmas beetles feed on the leaves of Eucalyptus trees and can cause severe defoliation when favourable weather conditions promote feeding swarms. One of the most characteristic features of this group are their large tarsal claws which are movable and uneven in length, most likely enabling them to hang onto the thin leaves of eucalyptus trees.

 

Colpochila species belong to the subfamily of Scarabaeidae called Melolonthinae, commonly known as chafers. The Melolonthinae are a large subfamily of beetles that range between 5 and 40 millimetres in length depending on the species. Most chafers are reddish-brown to black in colour although some may be bicoloured or have a metallic sheen. Most species are nocturnal and can be attracted in large numbers to lights at night during the summer months. Others are active both during the day and night. Most adult chafers are foliage or nectar feeders and in some years numbers of certain leaf eating species can build to plague proportions and completely defoliate native trees and shrubs. The larvae of chafers, commonly called white grubs are C-shaped and can be found in the soil where they feed on the roots of plants and other organic matter. Some species are considered pests as they cause serious damage to the roots of crops such as wheat, sugar cane, vegetables and pasture.