Planolinus Mulsant and Rey 1869
Planolinus Mulsant and Rey 1869: 426.

Planolinus tenellus (Say) Photo by P. Skelley.

Type species. Scarabaeus fasciatus Olivier 1789: 90, by subsequent designation (= Aphodius uliginosus Hardy 1847: 382).

Diagnosis. Body length 3.9-5.7 mm, elongate, somewhat robust, dark brown to black; body not laterally fimbriate. Head lacking frontal tubercles. Clypeus dull, with faint transverse ridge; margin rounded each side of middle. Pronotum with basal marginal line. Elytral intervals not distinctly punctured. Metafemur elongate. Metatibial apical spinules long, equal in length. Parameres of male genitalia with wide, flat membrane on inner margin.

Distribution. Palearctic, North America.

Composition. Worldwide, Planolinus contains 6 species, one of which is endemic in the New World.

Planolinus tenellus (Say 1823: 213) [Aphodius], Canada, USA, Mexico?
                    = Aphodius foetidus (Fabricius 1792), of Horn 1870: 119,
                   1887: 13 (incorrect assumption).
                    = Aphodius putridus (Herbst 1789), of Schmidt 1922: 292
                   (incorrect assumption).

Life History. Planolinus tenellus is a fall species, apparently a generalist, feeding on dung in the shade.

Larvae. Unknown.

References:
Gordon, R. D., and P. E. Skelley. 2007. A monograph of the Aphodiini inhabiting the United States and Canada (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Aphodiinae). Memoirs of the American Entomological Institute 79: 580 pp.