Scarabs are stout and heavy bodied beetles with large heads and pronotums. They are oval to elongate in shape. Many scarabs have beautiful metallic colors. The scarab beetles' antennae are distinctive and tipped with leaflike plates called lamellae, that can be drawn into a compact ball, or fanned out when sensing odors. The front part of the legs  are evolved for digging.Scarab beetles are in the family Scarabaeidae. There are about 1700 species in this family in N.America.