The Dung Beetle: Nature's Friendly Garbage Man

I know I left my last post with a cliff-hanger of sorts, but I would like to shift gears for this entry.  I would like to preface this entry by saying that I am not an Entomologist, nor have I ever actually studied beetles.  The closest I have ever gotten to that was working at the same lab bench as someone who was doing meta-population experiments using flour beetles.  Regardless, today I will be writing about a family of insects that has fascinated me since I first saw them on Wild Discovery as a kid.

Dung beetles are both sophisticated and majestic.  Within this superfamily of insects (Scarabaeoidea) can be found microcosms of ecological principles.  Not only are these animals a wealth of scientific knowledge, but they have a mystique about them that has intrigued human beings since the Ancient Egyptians. 

Species of this superfamily can be found throughout the world in various shapes and sizes.  The species which are best know, however, tend to be those of the African savannahs.  In these habitats species of dung beetle use feces (primarily from herbivores) as the foundation for their lives.  For these insects, dung comprises 3 of the necessary components for a species habitat: food, water, and shelter. 

There are 3 primary kinds of dung beetle and each uses dung in a different manner.  Rollers are they kind that we think of instantly when asked about these bugs.  These species gather feces, compact it into a manageable ball and roll it to where they need it most (generally to be buried underground and stored for continual use).  There are two other typical kinds of dung beetles: tunnelers and dwellers.  Tunnelers will bury their treasures wherever they find it.  Whereas dwellers will, as you may have guessed, burrow into and live within piles of manure. 

One theory to explain rolling behavior is that of competition.  When something like an elephant leaves a gift to the world behind that gift can sustain multiple beetles.  As in most societies there were individual beetles who figured out that they needed not gather or claim their own dung when they could simply steal it from another beetle who had done their work for them.  Thus, intraspecific competition created a  need to move dung away from gathering places and evolution took hold from there.

As odd as it sounds these creatures, who feed upon and dwell in feces, attained a revered status in one of the most advanced and sophisticated cultures in the history of mankind.  Ancient Egyptians used another name for these insects, scarab, and often used its likeness as inspiration for artworks of all kinds.  Their people held the insect sacred as its rolling of dung was likened to Khepri (god of the rising sun) rolling the run across the sky.  The origins of its reverence may be a bit more practical, however.

Dung beetles may be most welcome in agricultural settings.  A farm full of domesticated and herded livestock may be the ideal setting for the beetles as well.  In these situations the bugs natural activities keeps an excess of feces from accumulating in livestock pens.  Less standing waste can translate into fewer pests buzzing around the farm as well as less disease transmission between farm animals.  Reducing death rates of livestock would give any society cause to worship something.

For these reasons I believe the dung beetle to be one of the most fascinating animals on the planet.  Here I have given only a fraction of the information that there is to obtain about these incredible species.  Should I ever find myself on the Serengeti I will make sure to seek out and, if I'm lucky, study these fine creatures.  I hope we are all so lucky as to find that day.