Animal Magnetism

Distribution: All parts of the world,

except Antarctica

Yes, these beetles really do eat dung! Specifically

the solid waste from large animals like cows and

elephants! Dung beetles will also live in the dung

and lay their eggs in it. They prefer the dung of

herbivores, animals that only feed on plants.

While this may seem a bit disgusting to you, the

dung beetle is incredibly valuable. It makes sure that

vital nutrients, nitrogen and carbon, return to the

soil. If dung is allowed to dr y out on the sur face, 80

percent of its nutrients are lost to the atmosphere,

which is bad news for the plants and animals that

depend on these precious substances.

There are three kinds of dung beetle: rollers (yep,

they roll their dung into balls), tunnellers (who bur y

their prizes), and burrowers (who just live in the dung

pile, wherever they find it).

A dung beetle can also move dung that’s many

times its own weight. One dung beetle was recorded

moving a dung ball 1,141 times its own body weight

• that’s equivalent to a person weighing 70 kilograms
  shifting a load of 80,000 kilograms!
  Dung beetles are also the only animals known
  to navigate using the Milky Way. They can be seen
  standing on top of their pile of dung, figuring out their
  location with the help of the stars...

Considering that the planet is
home to nearly nine million living
species, it’s amazing that the world
isn’t more of a mess! And that’s
because some animals have evolved
to essentially “clean up” after
the others, feeding on waste and
parasites, and making sure that the
environments they call home, and
the other animals that inhabit them,
stay clean and healthy!

CREATURES THAT

clean

DUNG BEETLE

GOING GREEN!