Aulacopris matthewsi

Aulacopris matthewsi is a dung beetle belonging to the family Scarabaeidae, a group of scarab beetles known for their role in processing animal waste and organic matter. Like other members of its genus, it is likely a robust, heavily sclerotised beetle adapted to burrowing and tunnelling behaviour associated with dung burial. By locating, relocating, and burying dung, this species contributes to nutrient cycling, soil aeration, and secondary seed dispersal, while also helping to suppress pest flies and parasites that breed in surface-deposited waste.

The species is endemic to Australia, where it occupies forest and shrubland habitats. Its distribution is restricted, and it depends on relatively intact native vegetation and the presence of suitable mammalian dung sources to sustain its populations.

The species is classified as Vulnerable, reflecting a combination of ongoing pressures. Expansion of housing and urban development is reducing and fragmenting available habitat, while land conversion for annual and perennial crops and continued logging and wood harvesting degrade forest and shrubland structure. Habitat shifting and alteration, compounded by storms and flooding events, further disrupt the microhabitats this beetle relies on.

Invasive species and associated diseases add additional biotic pressure, potentially altering dung availability and competing with or displacing native beetle communities.

Specific conservation programmes targeting this species have not been widely documented, though it may benefit indirectly from broader forest and shrubland habitat protection measures in Australia, including reserve management and land-clearing regulations. Population trends remain unknown due to limited monitoring data.

Given the continued, multi-pronged nature of habitat loss and disturbance, the outlook remains uncertain, with the species' long-term persistence contingent on habitat retention and reduced land-use pressure across its restricted Australian range.