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Originally Posted by jezlee  Thanks for that, Paul .... I'm going to have to start measuring these things, and not rely on my memory - but looking at a ruler in front of me now, I would have said definitely no bigger than 20mm, which, as you said earlier, probably points to G.stecorosus .... 
But it also could be a small G. stercorarius or G. spiniger ...   |
... and if I've mis-counted the striae,
G. mutator! I'd just sticky with
Geotrupes sp ....
PS: Not easy getting a measure - eventually you'll learn to judge it by eye: in most cases it isn't a matter of measuring to 1mm (although, in some cases measurements may be critical to 0.1mm!). It's not easy getting a scale to put in your picture so some people go by a penny coin or a matchstick ... if you can get them in the field of view without frightening off the insect!