Dung beetle

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Dung beetle
Scarabaeus viettei 01.jpg
Scarabaeus viettei (syn. Madateuchus viettei, Scarabaeidae) in dry spiny forest close to Mangily, western Madagascar
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleoptera
Suborder: Polyphaga
Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea (in part)
Binomial name

Dung beetles are beetles that feed partly or exclusively on dungs or feces. They possess exceptional dung disposal capacity and one dung beetle can bury dung that is 250 times heavier than itself in one night.[1]


All the species belong to the superfamily Scarabaeoidea; most of them to the subfamilies Scarabaeinae and Aphodiinae of the family Scarabaeidae (scarab beetles). As most species of Scarabaeinae feed exclusively on feces, that subfamily is often dubbed true dung beetles. There are dung-feeding beetles which belong to other families, such as the Geotrupidae (the earth-boring dung beetle). The Scarabaeinae alone comprises more than 5,000 species.[2]

Dung beetles are currently the only known animal to navigate and orient themselves using the Milky Way.[3][4]


Dung beetles are not a single taxonomic group; dung feeding is found in a number of families of beetles, so the behaviour cannot be assumed to have evolved only once.

Ecology and behavior[edit]

Dung beetle rolling a ball of dung in the Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa
Two dung beetles fighting over a ball of dung.
An earth-boring dung beetle working.
A dung beetle with two balls of dung, Hyderabad, India.

Dung beetles live in many habitats, including desert, farmland, forest, and grasslands. They do not prefer extremely cold or dry weather. They are found on all continents except Antarctica. They eat the dung of herbivores and omnivores, and prefer that produced by the former. Many of them also feed on mushrooms and decaying leaves and fruits. One type living in Central America, Deltochilum valgum, is a carnivore preying upon millipedes. Those that eat dung do not need to eat or drink anything else, because the dung provides all the necessary nutrients. Most dung beetles search for dung using their sensitive sense of smell. Some smaller species simply attach themselves to the dung-providers to wait for the dung. After capturing the dung, a dung beetle rolls it, following a straight line despite all obstacles. Sometimes, dung beetles try to steal the dung ball from another beetle, so the dung beetles have to move rapidly away from a dung pile once they have rolled their ball to prevent it from being stolen. Dung beetles can roll up to 10 times their weight. Male Onthophagus taurus beetles can pull 1,141 times their own body weight: the equivalent of an average person pulling six double-decker buses full of people.[8] In 2003, researchers found one species of dung beetle (the African Scarabaeus zambesianus) navigates by using polarization patterns in moonlight. The discovery is the first proof any animal can use polarized moonlight for orientation.[9][10][11][12] In 2013, a study was published revealing that dung beetles can navigate when only the Milky Way or clusters of bright stars are visible,[13][14] the only insect known to orient itself by the galaxy.[3]

The "rollers" roll and bury a dung ball either for food storage or for making a brooding ball. In the latter case, two beetles, one male and one female, stay around the dung ball during the rolling process. Usually it is the male that rolls the ball, while the female hitch-hikes or simply follows behind. In some cases, the male and the female roll together. When a spot with soft soil is found, they stop and bury the ball, then mate underground. After the mating, both or one of them prepares the brooding ball. When the ball is finished, the female lays eggs inside it, a form of mass provisioning. Some species do not leave after this stage, but remain to safeguard their offspring. The dung beetle goes through a complete metamorphosis. The larvae live in brood balls made with dung prepared by their parents. During the larval stage, the beetle feeds on the dung surrounding it.

The behavior of the beetles was poorly misunderstood until the studies of Jean Henri Fabre in the late 19th century. For example, Fabre corrected the myth that a dung beetle would seek aid from other dung beetles when confronted by obstacles. By observation and experiment, he found the seeming helpers were in fact awaiting an opportunity to steal the roller's food source. [15]

Benefits and uses[edit]

Onitis aygulus
Onthophagus nigriventris

Dung beetles play a remarkable role in agriculture. By burying and consuming dung, they improve nutrient recycling and soil structure.[16] They also protect livestock, such as cattle, by removing the dung which, if left, could provide habitat for pests such as flies. Therefore, many countries have introduced the creatures for the benefit of animal husbandry. In developing countries, the beetles are especially important as an adjunct for improving standards of hygiene. The American Institute of Biological Sciences reports that dung beetles save the United States cattle industry an estimated US$380 million annually through burying above-ground livestock feces.[17]

In Australia, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) commissioned the Australian Dung Beetle Project (1965–1985) which, led by George Bornemissza, sought to introduce species of dung beetles from South Africa and Europe. The successful introduction of 23 species was made, most notably Onthophagus gazella and Euoniticellus intermedius, which has resulted in improvement of the quality and fertility of Australian cattle pastures, along with a reduction in the population of pestilent bush flies by around 90 percent.[18]

An application has been made by Landcare Research to import up to 11 species of dung beetle into New Zealand.[19] As well as improving pasture soils the Dung Beetle Release Strategy Group say that it would result in a reduction in emissions of nitrous oxide (a greenhouse gas) from agriculture.[20] There is, however, strong opposition from some at the University of Auckland, and a few others, based on the risks of the dung beetles acting as vectors of disease.[21][22] There are public health researchers at the University of Auckland who agree with the current EPA risk assessment [23] and indeed there are several Landcare programmes in Australia that involve schoolchildren collecting dung beetles.[24]

Like many other insects, the (dried) dung beetle, called qianglang (蜣蜋) in Chinese, is used in Chinese herbal medicine. It is recorded in the "Insect section" (蟲部) of the Compendium of Materia Medica, where it is recommended for the cure of 10 diseases.

In Isan, Northeastern Thailand, the local people famously eat many different kinds of insects including the dung beetle. There is an Isan song กุดจี่หายไปใหน "Where did the Dung Beetle go", which relates the replacement of water buffalo with the "metal" buffalo, which doesn't provide the dung needed for the dung beetle. Hence, the increasing rarity of the dung beetle in the agricultural region.

Scarab in ancient Egypt[edit]

Main article: Scarab (artifact)
A scarab statue at the Karnak temple complex


in hieroglyphs

Popular interpretation in modern academia theorizes the hieroglyphic (the language of Egyptians) image of the beetle represents a triliteral phonetic that Egyptologists transliterate as xpr or ḫpr and translate as "to come into being", "to become" or "to transform". The derivative term xprw or ḫpr(w) is variously translated as "form", "transformation", "happening", "mode of being" or "what has come into being", depending on the context. It may have existential, fictional, or ontologic significance. The scarab was linked to Khepri ("he who has come into being"), the god of the rising sun. The ancients believed that the dung beetle was only male in gender, and reproduced by depositing semen into a dung ball. The supposed self-creation of the beetle resembles that of Khepri, who creates himself out of nothing. Moreover, the dung ball rolled by a dung beetle resembles the sun. Plutarch wrote:



The image of the scarab, conveying ideas of transformation, renewal, and resurrection, is ubiquitous in ancient Egyptian religious and funerary art.




One scholar comments on other traits of the scarab connected with the theme of death and rebirth:


In contrast to funerary contexts, some of ancient Egypt's neighbors adopted the scarab motif for seals of varying types. The best-known of these being Judean LMLK seals (8 of 21 designs contained scarab beetles), which were used exclusively to stamp impressions on storage jars during the reign of Hezekiah.


In culture[edit]

In literature[edit]

In Aesop's fable "The Dung Beetle and the Eagle", the eagle kills a hare despite the beetle's appeals. The beetle takes revenge by twice destroying the eagle's eggs. The eagle, in despair, flies up to Olympus and places her latest eggs in Zeus's lap, beseeching the god to protect them. When the beetle finds out what the eagle has done, it stuffs itself with dung, goes straight up to Zeus and flies right into his face. Zeus is startled at the sight of the unpleasant creature and jumps to his feet. The eggs are broken. Zeus then learns of the beetle's plea which the eagle had ignored. He scolds the eagle and urges the beetle to stay away from the bird. But his efforts to persuade the beetle fail; so he changes the breeding season of the eagles to take place at a time when the beetles are not above ground.

Hans Christian Andersen's "The Dung Beetle" tells the story of a dung beetle who lives in the stable of the king's horses in an imaginary kingdom. When he demands golden shoes like those the king's horse wears and is refused, he flies away and has a series of adventures, which are often precipitated by his feeling of superiority to other animals. He finally returns to the stable having decided (against all logic) that it is for him that the king's horse wears golden shoes.[27]

Aristophanes alluded to Aesop's fable several times in his plays. In Peace, the hero rides up to Olympus to free the goddess Peace from her prison. His steed is an enormous dung beetle which has been fed so much dung that it has grown to monstrous size.

In Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis, the transformed character of Gregor Samsa is called an "old dung beetle" (alter Mistkäfer) by the charwoman.

The inadvertent theft of a prized scarab forms the backdrop to Something Fresh, the first of P.G. Wodehouse's celebrated Blandings Castle novels.

In Richard Marsh's gothic novel The Beetle: A Mystery (1897), a beetle with supernatural powers comes to England to haunt politician Paul Lessingham.

See also[edit]


  1. ^ "Some Less Known Fascinating Facts about Dung Beetle". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 21 April 2014. 
  2. ^ Frolov, A.V. "Subfamily Scarabaeinae: atlas of representatives of the tribes (Scarabaeidae)". Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
  3. ^ a b Wits University (24 January 2013). "Dung Beetles Follow the Milky Way: Insects Found to Use Stars for Orientation". ScienceDaily. Retrieved 25 January 2013. 
  4. ^ Dell'Amore, Christine. "Dung Beetles Navigate Via the Milky Way, First Known in Animal Kingdom". News Watch. National Geographic Society. Retrieved 25 January 2013. 
  5. ^ "Geotrupidae (earth-boring dung beetles)". kerbtier.de. Retrieved 28 March 2015. 
  6. ^ "Scarabaeinae dung beetles". Retrieved 28 March 2015. 
  7. ^ Skelley, P. E. Aphodiinae. Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles. University of Nebraska State Museum. 2008 Version.
  8. ^ Khaleeli, Homa (24 March 2010). "Just how strong is a dung beetle?". The Guardian (London). 
  9. ^ Dacke, M.; Nilsson, D. E.; Scholtz, C. H.; Byrne, M.; Warrant, E. J. (2003). "Animal behaviour: Insect orientation to polarized moonlight". Nature 424 (6944): 33. doi:10.1038/424033a. 
  10. ^ Milius, Susan (2003). "Moonlighting: Beetles navigate by lunar polarity". Science News 164 (1): 4. 
  11. ^ Roach, John (2003). "Dung Beetles Navigate by the Moon, Study Says", National Geographic News. Retrieved on 2007-08-02.
  12. ^ Milius, S. (2003). "Moonlighting". Science News 164: 4. doi:10.2307/3981988. JSTOR 3981988.  edit
  13. ^ Dacke, M.; Baird, E.; Byrne, M.; Scholtz, C. H.; Warrant, E. J. (2013). "Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation". Current Biology 23 (4): 298–300. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.12.034. PMID 23352694. 
  14. ^ Dacke, Marie; Baird, Emily; Byrne, Marcus; Scholtz, Clarke H.; Warrant, Eric J. (2013). "Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation". Current Biology 23 (4): 298–300. doi:10.1016/j.cub.2012.12.034. PMID 23352694. 
  15. ^ Fabre, J. Henri (1949). The Insect World of J. Henri Fabre. De Mattos, Alexander Teixeira (translator). Dodd, Mead & Company. p. 99. I ask myself in vain what Proudhon introduced into Scarabaean morality the daring paradox that "property means plunder", or what diplomatist taught the Dung-beetle the savage maxim that "might is right". 
  16. ^ Brown, J.; Scholtz, C. H.; Janeau, J. L.; Grellier, S.; Podwojewski, P. (2010). "Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) can improve soil hydrological properties". Applied Soil Ecology 46: 9. doi:10.1016/j.apsoil.2010.05.010. 
  17. ^ Losey, J. E.; Vaughan, M. (2006). "The Economic Value of Ecological Services Provided by Insects" (PDF). BioScience 56 (4): 311–323. doi:10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[311:TEVOES]2.0.CO;2. 
  19. ^ "Application summary – ERMA200599" (PDF). ERMA. Retrieved 12 December 2010. 
  20. ^ Ihaka, James (24 September 2010). "Let's roll... dung beetle to combat global warming". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 12 December 2010. 
  21. ^ 17 Aug 2014, 01:09 am (2012-05-07). "Experts dump on dung beetle". Fwplus.co.nz. Retrieved 2014-08-16. 
  22. ^ "Grant Guilford: Dung beetle plan a risky gamble". Nzherald.co.nz. Retrieved 2014-08-16. 
  23. ^ drj9 (2013-03-17). ""Fickle thy name is" vox populi : puzzle over dung beetles and science reporting | Journal of Outrageous Speculation". Janinepaynter.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2014-04-22. 
  24. ^ "Release Programme | Dung Beetles in New Zealand". Dungbeetle.org.nz. 2013-09-26. Retrieved 2014-04-22. 
  26. ^ Andrews, Carol (1994). Amulets of Ancient Egypt. Texas: University of Texas Press. ISBN 0-292-70464-X. Page 51.
  27. ^ Andersen, Hans Christian; James, M. R. (trans.) (1930). The Beetle. Hans Andersen Forty-Two Stories (Faber and Faber). 

External links[edit]