Tetraclipeoides Schmidt 1913
Tetraclipeoides Schmidt 1913: 139.

Tetraclipeoides denticulatus (Haldeman	Tetraclipeoides giulianii (Gordon)
Photos by P. Skelley.

Type species. Aphodius denticulatus Haldeman 1848: 104, by subsequent designation.

Diagnosis. Body length 4.4-8.3 mm, elongate, not to somewhat flattened, pale brown to black, lacking color patterns. Head with frontal suture carinate, not or feebly tuberculate. Epipharynx with long, apically projecting corypha sometimes equipped with short, stout, spinules before apex. Clypeal anterior margin variably toothed or not, some with margin between teeth thickened or with V-shaped notch. Pronotum with basal marginal line; occasionally laterally fimbriate. Metatibial apical fringe long or short, more or less equal spinules.

Distribution. North America into Mexico, Afrotropical(?)

Composition. Worldwide, Tetraclipeoides contains approximately 16 species, 14 of which occur in the New World.

Tetraclipeoides acutissimus (Gordon 1976: 473) [Aphodius], SW-USA.
Tetraclipeoides aemulus (Horn 1887: 38) [Aphodius], UT-AZ-NM-USA, Mexico.
                  = Aphodius fortunus Fall 1932: 187.
Tetraclipeoides anomaliceps (Brown 1929: 207) [Aphodius], SW-USA.
Tetraclipeoides denticulatus (Haldeman 1848: 104) [Aphodius], NW-USA, SW-Canada.
Tetraclipeoides dentiger (LeConte 1858: 65) [Aphodius], TX, NM-USA, Mexico.
Tetraclipeoides dentigerulus (Brown 1929: 208) [Aphodius], Central-USA.
Tetraclipeoides fimbripes (Brown 1928: 305) [Aphodius], SW-USA.
Tetraclipeoides formidatus (Gordon 1976: 470) [Aphodius], TX-USA.
Tetraclipeoides giulianii (Gordon 1977: 232) [Aphodius], Mexico, TX-USA.
Tetraclipeoides henryi (Gordon 1976: 472) [Aphodius], UT-USA.
Tetraclipeoides moquinus (Fall 1907: 242) [Aphodius], AZ.
Tetraclipeoides quadridentatus (Harold 1861: 107) [Aphodius], Cuba.
Tetraclipeoides testaceiventris (Fall 1932: 185) [Aphodius], Central-USA.
Tetraclipeoides texanus Gordon and Skelley 2007: 307, TX-USA.

Life History. Most members are rodent burrow associates feeding on their dung. A number of species associate with prairie dogs and ground squirrels, others with pack rats and possibly kangaroo rats. The laterally fimbriate species (T. fimbripes, T. giulianii), which also lack clypeal teeth, are collected at lights near sand dunes. Their habits are unknown.

Larvae. Unknown.

Status of classification. Historically, Aphodiini with four clypeal teeth were placed in Tetraclipeoides. Detailed study show this character to be variable within genera, showing up independently in distinctly different lineages. Tetraclipeoides has been more narrowly defined (Gordon and Skelley 2007), with a number of species being transferred to other genera and vice versa. Study of the Old World member(s) of Tetraclipeoides will probably end with them being transferred to another genus and Tetraclipeoides being restricted to the New World.

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.