Dung beetles are

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

s that feed on feces. Some species of dung beetles can bury dung 250 times their own mass in one night. Many dung beetles, known as ''rollers'', roll dung into round balls, which are used as a food source or breeding chambers. Others, known as ''tunnelers'', bury the dung wherever they find it. A third group, the ''dwellers'', neither roll nor burrow: they simply live in dung. They are often attracted by the feces collected by

burrowing owl The burrowing owl (''Athene cunicularia''), also called the shoco, is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or an ...

s. There are dung beetle species of various colors and sizes, and some functional traits such as body mass (or biomass) and leg length can have high levels of variability. All the

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

belong to the superfamily

Scarabaeoidea Scarabaeoidea is a superfamily of beetles, the only subgroup of the infraorder Scarabaeiformia. Around 35,000 species are placed in this superfamily and some 200 new species are described each year. Its constituent families are also undergoing r ...

, most of them to the subfamilies

Scarabaeinae The scarab beetle subfamily Scarabaeinae consists of species collectively called true dung beetles. Most of the beetles of this subfamily feed exclusively on dung. However, some may feed on decomposing matter including carrion, decaying fruits a ...

and Aphodiinae of the family

Scarabaeidae The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...

(scarab beetles). As most species of Scarabaeinae feed exclusively on feces, that subfamily is often dubbed ''true dung beetles''. There are dung-feeding beetles which belong to other families, such as the

Geotrupidae Geotrupidae (from Greek γῆ ''(gē)'', earth, and τρῡπητής ''(trȳpētēs)'', borer) is a family of beetles in the order Coleoptera. They are commonly called earth-boring dung beetles or dor beetles. Most excavate burrows in which t ...

(the ''earth-boring dung beetle''). The Scarabaeinae alone comprises more than 5,000 species. The nocturnal African dung beetle ''

Scarabaeus satyrus ''Scarabaeus satyrus'' is one of the Old World dung beetle species. These beetles roll a ball of dung for some distance from where it was deposited, and bury it, excavating an underground chamber to house it. An egg is then laid in the ball, th ...

'' is one of the few known invertebrate animals that navigate and orient themselves using the

Milky Way The Milky Way is the galaxy that includes our Solar System, with the name describing the galaxy's appearance from Earth: a hazy band of light seen in the night sky formed from stars that cannot be individually distinguished by the naked eye. ...

Taxonomy

Dung beetles are not a single taxonomic group; dung feeding is found in a number of families of beetles, so the behaviour cannot be assumed to have evolved only once. * Coleoptera (order), beetles **

(superfamily), scarabs (most families in the group do not use dung) ***

(family), "earth-boring dung beetles" ***

(family), "scarab beetles" (not all species use dung) ****

(subfamily), "true dung beetles" **** Aphodiinae (subfamily), "small dung beetles" (not all species use dung)Skelley, P. E
Aphodiinae.
''Generic Guide to New World Scarab Beetles.'' University of Nebraska State Museum. 2008 Version.

Ecology and behavior

Dung beetles live in many

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, including desert,

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses ( Poaceae). However, sedge ( Cyperaceae) and rush ( Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur na ...

s and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground to ...

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...

lands, and native and planted

forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

s. They are highly influenced by the environmental context, and do not prefer extremely cold or dry weather. They are found on all continents except

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. They eat the dung of herbivores and omnivores, and prefer that produced by the latter. Many of them also feed on

mushrooms A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is ...

and decaying leaves and

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s. One type living in Central America, ''

Deltochilum valgum ''Deltochilum'' is a genus of dung beetles in the family Scarabaeidae. There are at least 100 described species in ''Deltochilum''. See also * List of Deltochilum species This is a list of 106 species in '' Deltochilum'', a genus of dung beet ...

'', is a carnivore preying upon

millipedes Millipedes are a group of arthropods that are characterised by having two pairs of jointed legs on most body segments; they are known scientifically as the class Diplopoda, the name derived from this feature. Each double-legged segment is a resu ...

. Another species from Mexico, ''Canthon virens'' preys on queen of leaf cutter ants Dung beetles do not necessarily have to eat or drink anything else, because the dung provides all the necessary nutrients. Most dung beetles search for dung using their sensitive

sense of smell The sense of smell, or olfaction, is the special sense through which smells (or odors) are perceived. The sense of smell has many functions, including detecting desirable foods, hazards, and pheromones, and plays a role in taste. In humans, ...

. Some smaller species simply attach themselves to the dung-providers to wait for the dung. After capturing the dung, a dung beetle rolls it, following a straight line despite all obstacles. Sometimes, dung beetles try to steal the dung ball from another beetle, so the dung beetles have to move rapidly away from a dung pile once they have rolled their ball to prevent it from being stolen. Dung beetles can roll up to 10 times their weight. Male ''Onthophagus taurus'' beetles can pull 1,141 times their own body weight: the equivalent of an average person pulling six double-decker buses full of people. A species of dung beetle (the African ''Scarabaeus zambesianus'') navigates by polarization patterns in moonlight, the first animal known to do so. Dung beetles can also navigate when only the

or clusters of bright stars are visible, making them the only insects known to orient themselves by the Milky Way. The eyes of dung beetles are superposition

compound eyes A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which distin ...

typical of many scarabaeid beetles; The sequence of images shows a sequence of the beetle rolling a dung ball. It does this to navigate. Plum dung beetle (Anachalcos convexus) 1 of 4.jpg, The beetle climbs onto the ball Plum dung beetle (Anachalcos convexus) 2 of 4.jpg, The beetle starts to turn around Plum dung beetle (Anachalcos convexus) 3 of 4.jpg, The beetle continues turning around Plum dung beetle (Anachalcos convexus) 4 of 4.jpg, The beetle rolls the ball with its hind legs Cambefort and Hanski (1991) classified dung beetles into three functional types based on their feeding and nesting strategies such as – Rollers, Tunnelers and Dwellers. The "rollers" roll and bury a dung ball either for food storage or for making a brooding ball. In the latter case, two beetles, one male and one female, stay around the dung ball during the rolling process. Usually it is the male that rolls the ball, while the female hitch-hikes or simply follows behind. In some cases, the male and the female roll together. When a spot with soft soil is found, they stop and bury the ball, then mate underground. After the mating, one or both of them prepares the brooding ball. When the ball is finished, the female lays eggs inside it, a form of

mass provisioning Mass provisioning is a form of parental investment in which an adult insect, most commonly a hymenopteran such as a bee or wasp, stocks all the food for each of her offspring in a small chamber (a "cell") before she lays the egg. This behavior is ...

. Some species do not leave after this stage, but remain to safeguard their offspring. The dung beetle goes through a complete metamorphosis. The larvae live in brood balls made with dung prepared by their parents. During the larval stage, the beetle feeds on the dung surrounding it. The behavior of the beetles was poorly understood until the studies of Jean Henri Fabre in the late 19th century. For example, Fabre corrected the myth that a dung beetle would seek aid from other dung beetles when confronted by obstacles. By observation and experiment, he found the seeming helpers were in fact awaiting an opportunity to steal the roller's food source. They are widely used in ecological research as a good

bioindicator A bioindicator is any species (an indicator species) or group of species whose function, population, or status can reveal the qualitative status of the environment. The most common indicator species are animals. For example, copepods and other sma ...

group to examine the impacts of climate disturbances, such as extreme droughts and associated fires, and human activities on tropical biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, such as seed dispersal, soil bioturbation and nutrient cycling. Scarabaeus laticollis.jpg, An earth-boring dung beetle working DungBeetle.jpg, A dung beetle with two balls of dung Scarabaeus laticollis 2.jpg, Two dung beetles fighting over a ball of dung

Benefits and uses

Dung beetles play a role in

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people t ...

and

tropical forest Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds. Some tropical fore ...

s. By burying and consuming dung, they improve nutrient recycling and soil structure. Dung beetles have been further shown to improve soil conditions and plant growth on rehabilitated coal mines in South Africa. They are also important for the dispersal of seeds present in animals' dung, influencing seed burial and seedling recruitment in tropical forests. They can protect livestock, such as

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

, by removing the dung which, if left, could provide habitat for pests such as

flies Flies are insects of the order Diptera, the name being derived from the Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwings having evolved into advanced m ...

. Therefore, many countries have introduced the creatures for the benefit of animal husbandry. The American Institute of Biological Sciences reports that dung beetles save the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

cattle industry an estimated US$380 million annually through burying above-ground livestock feces. In Australia, the

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is an Australian Government agency responsible for scientific research. CSIRO works with leading organisations around the world. From its headquarters in Canberra, CSIRO ...

(CSIRO) commissioned the Australian Dung Beetle Project (1965–1985) which, led by George Bornemissza, sought to introduce species of dung beetles from South Africa and Europe. The successful introduction of 23 species was made, most notably '' Digitonthophagus gazella'' and '' Euoniticellus intermedius'', which has resulted in improvement of the quality and fertility of Australian cattle pastures, along with a reduction in the population of pestilent Australian bush flies by around 90%. In 1995 it was reported that dung beetles were being trialled in the Sydney beach suburb of

Curl Curl Curl Curl is a suburb of northern Sydney in the state of New South Wales, Australia, north-east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council. It is part of the Northern Beaches region. Loca ...

to deal with dog droppings. An application has been made by Landcare Research to import up to 11 species of dung beetle into

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. As well as improving pasture soils the Dung Beetle Release Strategy Group say that it would result in a reduction in emissions of

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has ...

(a greenhouse gas) from agriculture. There is, however, strong opposition from some at the

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

, and a few others, based on the risks of the dung beetles acting as vectors of disease. There are public health researchers at the University of Auckland who agree with the current EPA risk assessment and indeed there are several Landcare programmes in Australia that involve schoolchildren collecting dung beetles. The African dung beetle (''D. gazella'') was introduced in several locations in North and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

and has been spreading its distribution to other regions by natural dispersal and accidental transportation, and is now probably naturalized in most countries between

México Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatem ...

and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

. The exotic species might be useful for controlling diseases of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

in commercial areas, and might displace native species in modified landscapes; however, data is not conclusive about its effect on native species in natural environments and further monitoring is required. Like many other insects, (dried) dung beetle, called ''qiāngláng'' (蜣蜋) in Chinese, is used in Chinese herbal medicine. It is recorded in the "Insect section" (蟲部) of the '' Compendium of Materia Medica'', where it is recommended for the cure of 10 diseases. In Isan, Northeastern Thailand, the local people eat many different kinds of insects, including the dung beetle. There is an Isan song กุดจี่หายไปใหน "Where Did the Dung Beetle Go", which relates the replacement of

water buffalo The water buffalo (''Bubalus bubalis''), also called the domestic water buffalo or Asian water buffalo, is a large bovid originating in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. Today, it is also found in Europe, Australia, North America, So ...

with the "metal" buffalo, which does not provide the dung needed for the dung beetle and has led to the increasing rarity of the dung beetle in the agricultural region. The Mediterranean dung beetle (''Bubas bison'') has been used in conjunction with biochar stock fodder to reduce emissions of

and

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

, which are both greenhouse gases. The beetles work the biochar-enriched dung into the soil without the use of machines.

In culture

Some dung beetles are used as food in South East Asia and a variety of dung beetle species have been used therapeutically (and are still being used in traditionally living societies) in potions and folk medicines to treat a number of illnesses and disorders.

Ancient Egypt

Several species of the dung beetle, most notably the species '' Scarabaeus sacer'' (often referred to as ''the sacred scarab''), enjoyed a sacred status among the ancient Egyptians. Egyptian hieroglyphic script uses the image of the beetle to represent a triliteral phonetic that Egyptologists transliterate as ''xpr'' or ''ḫpr'' and translate as "to come into being", "to become" or "to transform". The derivative term ''xprw'' or ''ḫpr(w)'' is variously translated as "form", "transformation", "happening", "mode of being" or "what has come into being", depending on the context. It may have existential, fictional, or ontologic significance. The scarab was linked to Khepri ("he who has come into being"), the god of the rising

sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

. The ancients believed that the dung beetle was only male-sexed, and reproduced by depositing

semen Semen, also known as seminal fluid, is an organic bodily fluid created to contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads (sexual glands) and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize the female ovum. Sem ...

into a dung ball. The supposed self-creation of the beetle resembles that of Khepri, who creates himself out of nothing. Moreover, the dung ball rolled by a dung beetle resembles the sun.

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for hi ...

wrote: The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it, again, the next day. Some New Kingdom royal tombs exhibit a threefold image of the sun god, with the beetle as symbol of the morning sun. The astronomical ceiling in the tomb of

Ramses VI Ramesses VI Nebmaatre-Meryamun (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses, also known under his princely name of Amenherkhepshef C) was the fifth ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for about eight years in the mid-to-late 12th century ...

portrays the nightly "death" and "rebirth" of the sun as being swallowed by Nut, goddess of the sky, and re-emerging from her womb as Khepri. The image of the scarab, conveying ideas of transformation, renewal, and resurrection, is ubiquitous in ancient Egyptian religious and

funerary art Funerary art is any work of art forming, or placed in, a repository for the remains of the dead. The term encompasses a wide variety of forms, including cenotaphs ("empty tombs"), tomb-like monuments which do not contain human remains, and comm ...

. Excavations of ancient Egyptian sites have yielded images of the scarab in

bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

ivory Ivory is a hard, white material from the tusks (traditionally from elephants) and teeth of animals, that consists mainly of dentine, one of the physical structures of teeth and tusks. The chemical structure of the teeth and tusks of mammals i ...

, stone,

Egyptian faience Egyptian faience is a sintered- quartz ceramic material from Ancient Egypt. The sintering process "covered he materialwith a true vitreous coating" as the quartz underwent vitrification, creating a bright lustre of various colours "usually ...

, and precious metals, dating from the Sixth Dynasty and up to the period of Roman rule. They are generally small, bored to allow stringing on a necklace, and the base bears a brief inscription or cartouche. Some have been used as seals.

Pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: '' pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the ...

s sometimes commissioned the manufacture of larger images with lengthy inscriptions, such as the commemorative scarab of Queen

Tiye Tiye (c. 1398 BC – 1338 BC, also spelled Tye, Taia, Tiy and Tiyi) was the daughter of Yuya and Thuya. She became the Great Royal Wife of the Egyptian pharaoh Amenhotep III. She was the mother of Akhenaten and grandmother of Tutankhamun. ...

. Massive sculptures of scarabs can be seen at Luxor Temple, at the Serapeum in Alexandria (see

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian deity. The cult of Serapis was promoted during the third century BC on the orders of Greek Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter of the Ptolemaic Kingdom in Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his r ...

) and elsewhere in Egypt. Egypt

The scarab was of prime significance in the funerary cult of ancient Egypt. Scarabs, generally, though not always, were cut from green stone, and placed on the chest of the deceased. Perhaps the most famous example of such "heart scarabs" is the yellow-green

pectoral Pectoral may refer to: * The chest region and anything relating to it. * Pectoral cross, a cross worn on the chest * a decorative, usually jeweled version of a gorget * Pectoral (Ancient Egypt), a type of jewelry worn in ancient Egypt * Pectorali ...

scarab found among the entombed provisions of Tutankhamen. It was carved from a large piece of

Libyan desert glass Libyan Desert glass or Great Sand Sea glass is an impactite, made mostly of lechatelierite, found in areas in the eastern Sahara, in the deserts of eastern Libya and western Egypt. Fragments of desert glass can be found over areas of tens of s ...

. The purpose of the "heart scarab" was to ensure that the heart would not bear witness against the deceased at judgement in the Afterlife. Other possibilities are suggested by the "transformation spells" of the ''Coffin Texts'', which affirm that the soul of the deceased may transform (''xpr'') into a human being, a god, or a bird and reappear in the world of the living. One scholar comments on other traits of the scarab connected with the theme of death and rebirth: In contrast to funerary contexts, some of ancient Egypt's neighbors adopted the scarab motif for seals of varying types. The best-known of these being Judean LMLK seals (8 of 21 designs contained scarab beetles), which were used exclusively to stamp impressions on storage jars during the reign of

Hezekiah Hezekiah (; hbo, , Ḥīzqīyyahū), or Ezekias); grc, Ἐζεκίας 'Ezekías; la, Ezechias; also transliterated as or ; meaning "Yahweh, Yah shall strengthen" (born , sole ruler ), was the son of Ahaz and the 13th king of Kingdom of Jud ...

. The scarab remains an item of popular interest thanks to modern fascination with the art and beliefs of ancient Egypt. Scarab beads in semiprecious stones or glazed ceramics can be purchased at most bead shops, while at Luxor Temple a massive ancient scarab has been roped off to discourage visitors from rubbing the base of the statue "for luck".

In literature

In Aesop's fable "

The Eagle and the Beetle The story of the feud between the eagle and the beetle is one of Aesop's Fables and often referred to in Classical times. It is numbered 3 in the Perry Index and the episode became proverbial. Although different in detail, it can be compared to t ...

", the eagle kills a hare that has asked for sanctuary with a beetle. The beetle then takes revenge by twice destroying the eagle's eggs. The eagle, in despair, flies up to Olympus and places her latest eggs in

Zeus Zeus or , , ; grc, Δῐός, ''Diós'', label= genitive Boeotian Aeolic and Laconian grc-dor, Δεύς, Deús ; grc, Δέος, ''Déos'', label= genitive el, Δίας, ''Días'' () is the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek reli ...

's lap, beseeching the god to protect them. When the beetle finds out what the eagle has done, it stuffs itself with dung, goes straight up to Zeus and flies right into his face. Zeus is startled at the sight of the unpleasant creature, jumping to his feet so that the eggs are broken. Learning of the origin of their feud, Zeus attempts to mediate and, when his efforts to mediate fail, he changes the breeding season of the eagle to a time when the beetles are not above ground.

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; grc, Ἀριστοφάνης, ; c. 446 – c. 386 BC), son of Philippus, of the deme Kydathenaion ( la, Cydathenaeum), was a comic playwright or comedy-writer of ancient Athens and a poet of Old Attic Comedy. Eleven of his for ...

alluded to Aesop's fable several times in his plays. In ''

Peace Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict (such as war) and freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups. ...

'', the hero rides up to Olympus to free the goddess Peace from her prison. His steed is an enormous dung beetle which has been fed so much dung that it has grown to monstrous size. Hans Christian Andersen's "The Dung Beetle" tells the story of a dung beetle who lives in the stable of the king's horses in an imaginary kingdom. When he demands golden shoes like those the king's horse wears and is refused, he flies away and has a series of adventures, which are often precipitated by his feeling of superiority to other animals. He finally returns to the stable having decided (against all logic) that it is for him that the king's horse wears golden shoes. In

Franz Kafka Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a German-speaking Bohemian novelist and short-story writer, widely regarded as one of the major figures of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of realism and the fantastic. It ...

's ''

The Metamorphosis ''Metamorphosis'' (german: Die Verwandlung) is a novella written by Franz Kafka which was first published in 1915. One of Kafka's best-known works, ''Metamorphosis'' tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes one morning to find himsel ...

'', the transformed character of Gregor Samsa is called an "old dung beetle" (''alter Mistkäfer'') by a

charwoman A charwoman (also chargirl, charlady or char) is an old-fashioned occupational term, referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually ...

References

Book sources

External links

Feature: 'What to do with too much poo'
– The success story behind the introduction of dung beetles in Australia at cosmosmagazine.com

at insects.org
Scarabaeinae Research Network

at the Australia Museum
Catharsius
an international group working on taxonomy and ecology of Western African dung beetles * Tomas Libich

an

photos
Dung Beetles in action (video)
by The WILD Foundation/Boyd Norton
Dung Beetles in New Zealand
(proposed release of dung beetles, with background research)

Ted conference about dung beetle behavior.
Dung Beetle Ecosystem Engineers
Dung Beetle Ecosystem Engineers – expanding the range of dung beetles in Australia and analysing their performance for livestock producers. {{Authority control Coprophagous insects Scarabaeidae Articles containing video clips Polyphyletic groups Insect common names