Present degree of knowledge of the Brazilian Scarabaeidae s. str. (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea)

Beetles of the family Scarabaeidae are important as decomposers, natural enemies of coprobiont pests and biodiversity indicators. The aim of this work is to determine the present degre of taxonomic and faunistic knowledge of Brazilian species in this group. Between 1926 and 1998, 62 papers dealing with Brazilian Scarabaeidae systematics have been published by 12 Brazilian researchers. Thirteen local or regional faunal lists have been published between 1875 and 1999. There are by now two Brazilian researchers publishing on the systematics of Brazilian Scarabaeidae s. str. 618 species are cited as occurring in Brazil, 223 endemic to this country. Just five genera, out of the 49 occurring in Brazil, have been reviewed made in the last two decades. The study of a big collection showed 768 Brazilian species of Scarabaeidae, 41% identified to the species level, 8% new and the others unidentifiable without examining types or reviewing genera. Similar proportions have been found in unpublished data from 25 faunal listings in eight states. We conclude that the main limitations of the study of this group in Brazil are the many undersampled areas and the low number of researchers working on the Taxonomy of this group. The Appendix presents a preliminary list of species known to occur in Brazil.