Catharsius molossus (Linnaeus, 1758) Scarabaeus molossus Linnaeus, 1758: 347. Catharsius molossus: Schultze 1916a: 160. Type locality. “ India.” Distribution in the Philippines. Luzon (Palawan) (Schultze 1916a). Overall distribution. The Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Nepal, China (including Taiwan), Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Singapore. Remarks.Although records of Catharsius molossus from the Philippines are scarce in the literature, the species is known to occur in Palawan and is entirely absent from other regions of the archipelago, as confirmed by Ochi and Kon (pers. comm.). During a recent entomological survey in Bukidnon, Mindanao, the first author collected Catharsius specimens that differed markedly from other Mindanao populations by having entirely reddish-brown pubescence. These specimens closely resembled C. molossus, and after a detailed examination, assisted by Ochi and Kon, they were confirmed to be C. molossus. A more comprehensive treatment of the geographic distribution of Catharsius species in the Philippines will be presented in a separate paper.

Published as part of Magallanes, Joriemar G., Nuñeza, Olga M. & Mondejar, Eddie P., 2026, First in 109 years: Catalogue of scarab beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) of the Philippines, pp. 1-148 in Zootaxa 5746 (1) on page 103, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5746.1.1, http://zenodo.org/record/19166474