It is easy for the little guys to get over looked when you are on a safari. The African dung beetle is far to fascinating to ignore and we want to explain to you all why.
Dung beetles
Dung beetles belong to a group of insects in the order Coleoptera; a group that contains all species of beetle. There are an impressive 400,000 species (approximately) within this group and the African dung beetle belongs to the group of subspecies known as the true dung eating beetles who feed exclusively on faeces and/or decomposing matter.
Dung beetles are found in all continents except for Antarctica and they are adapted to live in many habitats, especially those where there is vegetation and of course faeces kindly left by herbivorous or omnivorous mammals.
Dung beetles can be divided into three categories, known as ‘rollers’, ‘tunnelers’ and ‘dwellers’. African dung beetles, as well as other true dung beetles are rollers.
Rollers- famously known for rolling dung into balls and then rolling the balls away to then burying it to feed on or to be used as a breeding chamber.
Tunnelers– they usually dig tunnels right below a food source to create nests.
Dwellers- live in the dung where ever it may lie.
The African dung beetle use their highly sensitive sense of smell to locate dung, and once it has been found, they quickly get to work, rolling it into balls and rolling it away. They act quick to avoid other nearby dung beetles from stealing their round masterpiece. Then, they get to work burying the dung ball so they can lay an egg in the ball and the larvae do not emerge until they are adults. Dung beetles’ mouth parts and legs are specifically adapted to feeding and rolling dung.
So, what is so impressive about a beetle that eats and rolls dung? We are glad you asked… continue reading to find out why.
They are undoubtedly one of the strongest insects in the world
African dung beetles can move (by pulling and pushing) up to an impressive 1,141 times their own body weight. To put that into perspective, that would be like a person pulling six double-decker buses, full of people at the same time!
They navigate using the light of the milky way
Scientists discovered how the dung beetles use the light of the milk way to orientate themselves as they roll their dung balls to the site, they wish to bury it. Dung beetles like to move in a straight line when they are not rolling their dung ball. Once they are on the move with their dung ball, they could easily get disorientated and end up going back the direction they originally came from. The beetles use their compound eyes to use the stars as their compass to navigate them in the right direction. The African Scarabaeus zambesianus navigates by polarisation patterns in the moonlight, and it is the first animal recorded by scientists to do so.
They play an important role in the ecosystem
Dung beetles play an important sustainable, ecological role of ridding the environment of intestinal parasites, biological control of flies, provide secondary seed dispersal, improve nutrient cycling and improve pasture quality. This helps with nutrient recycling, soil aeration and fertilisation by removal and burial of their dung balls. The African bushveld has fewer flies because of their hard cleaning work and the mites that live on them also help to reduce fly larvae.
These mini little cleaning machines are essential for the ecosystem.
As you can see, dung beetles may not have the most glamorous of lifestyles but their hard work and dedication to waste products left by other animals helps to maintain a healthy ecosystem and provide great entertainment when out exploring in the bush.
Come back next Friday for more interesting facts, #factfriday !
Further reading
- Dacke, M., Baird, E., Byrne, M., Scholtz, C. and Warrant, E., 2013. Dung Beetles Use the Milky Way for Orientation. Current Biology, 23(4), pp.298-300.
