Dung Beetle
Dung Beetles are beetles that feed on feces. They can also be known as sarabs. These are the same beetles that are found in many paintings and jewelry of the sacred scarab of Ancient Egypt. The beetle rolling its ball of dung, with the ball representing the Earth, and the beetle is the sun. They are round with short wing covers (elytra) that expose the end of the abdomen. Usually dark in color, the male's head will have a curved horn at the top in some species.[1] In some species, the ball of manure can be as large as an apple.
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
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| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Coleoptera |
| Family: | Scarabaeidae |
Habitat and Range
They are found on every continent except Antarctica. They can inhabit a wide variety of habitats such as deserts, grasslands and savannas, farmlands, and forests. They can thrive in many environments, from hot, dry deserts to lush forests.
Behavior
These small insects are recyclers. They can help by speeding up the decomposition of dung and cycling nutrients into the soil. As mentioned, the beetles can form manure into a ball using their scooper-like head and paddle-shaped antennae. This can help control the fly population by burning dung, which reduces fly breeding grounds. During the early part of summer, the dung buries itself in the ball and feeds on it. As time passes by, the female will eventually lay her eggs in the ball of dung, on which the larvae will feed on it later.
Diet
All they eat is undigested matter in the waste of animals like cows, sheep, and camels. The fesher it is the more they like it because they can suck out the liquids from it [3].
References
[1]Dung beetle | insect. (2019). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/animal/dung-beetle
[2] Dung Beetle | San Diego Zoo Animals & Plants. (2019). Sandiegozoo.org. https://animals.sandiegozoo.org/animals/dung-beetle
[3] The Sacred Dung Beetles of Ancient Egypt | Kids Discover Online. (2025). Kids Discover Online. https://online.kidsdiscover.com/quickread/the-sacred-dung-beetles-of-ancient-egypt