[3] Scarabs are stout-bodied beetles, many with bright metallic colours, measuring between 1.5 and 160 millimetres (0.059 and 6.3 in).

They have distinctive, clubbed antennae composed of plates called lamellae that can be compressed into a ball or fanned out like leaves to sense odours.

In some groups males (and sometimes females) have prominent horns on the head and/or pronotum to fight over mates or resources.

Many scarabs are scavengers that recycle dung, carrion, or decaying plant material.

[8] Egyptian amulets representing the sacred scarab beetles were traded throughout the Mediterranean world.