The genus Scarabaeus consists of a number of Afro-Eurasian dung beetle species, including the "sacred scarab beetle", Scarabaeus sacer and is the namesake of the tribe Scarabaeini, the family Scarabaeidae, the superfamily Scarabaeoidea and the infraorder Scarabaeiformia.

They also prepare food for their larvae by excavating an underground chamber, and filling it with balls that have eggs laid in them.

The growing larva feeds upon the dung ball, pupates, and eventually emerges as an adult.

[2] A "scarabaeus" is also a now outdated term (OED 2) for an object in the form of a scarab beetle in art.

[4] A creature identified as Scarabaeus appears in "The Gold-Bug" by Edgar Allan Poe,[5] and a poem entitled "Scarabæus sisyphus" was created by Mathilde Blind.