Dung Beetle

Dung Beetle

Dung Beetle




My favorite arthropod is the dung beetle and I would like to explore some interesting facts about its lifestyle.   The Scarabaeidae Deltochilum gibbosum, or Dung Beetle, is one of the most interesting arthropods in existence, and it has one of the strangest lifestyles-they eat and live in dung.   Adults range from 2 to over 50 mm in length, and are dark colored.   Different species prefer different habitats such as grassland or forest, and different soil types such as sand or clay.   Some feed on dung of only one species of animal, but others are less picky and feed on dung from many species.   Most species eat dung but some eat carcasses, vegetation, or fungi.   Their method of feeding is also strange.   Some roll the dung into a ball and live inside it, and others dig a burrow under the food source.