Up to 12 mm long and very broad and convex, this dung beetle is black but can have a bluish sheen in certain light. The scutellum is long and studded with small punctuations.

Around wet dung of horses and cattle.

In horse and cattle dung from March to October and among flood refuse throughout the autumn and winter.

It is also attracted to light so may be found in moth traps.

Larvae feed on dung and debris.

Common over most of England and Wales but less so further north.

Fairly frequent in Leicestershire and Rutland. There were a total of 34 VC55 records for this species up to March 2015.