Phanaeus vindex
Rattlebox Photography
There are many different
species of dung beetles, and many of them go by different
names. This page will focus on Phanaeus vindex,
usually just called "Dung Beetle," also known as "Rainbow
Scarab Beetle." These dung beetles grow
up to 1 inch long. They are very colorful, being mostly
metallic green and copper-colored. Male beetles may have a
long horn on their head, though sometimes it may be smaller.
Females do not have horns, but they do have a small bump
called a "tubercle." "Dung" is a more
scientific way of saying "poop." Dung Beetles are usually
found just about anywhere there is animal poop, since this
is their main food. They can often be found with other
species of dung beetles at "poopy" places.
Drees, Texas A&M University Department of Entomology
Adult dung beetles eat
poop, but they also need it to feed their young. When two
beetles mate, they look for a good food supply (pile of
poop). They immediately begin digging burrows underneath the
poop. Once burrows have been
dug, both the male and female begin rolling balls of dung to
the bottom of each one. The female dung beetle lays an egg
inside each dung ball. Beetle larvae, called
grubs, hatch from their eggs and immediately start eating
the dung around them. As each grub grows, it gets bigger and
bigger. When it is big enough, still inside its dung ball,
the grub will change into a pupa (resting stage). Inside its
cocoon, the pupa is changing into an adult Dung
Beetle. The adult beetles can dig
their way out of their burrows. SBW, Natural Resource
Inventory Database Copyright, Jay Cossey,
http://www.images.on.ca/JayC/ Dung Beetles are active
from Spring to Fall. They have an excellent sense of smell
and can scent dung from great distances. A fresh pile of
poop can attract Dung Beetles in a matter of
minutes. Once a pile of dung has
been found, Dung Beetles, along with other dung-eating
animals will make it disappear quickly. Sometimes an entire
pile can be gone in only a few hours. Dung Beetles have a very
important job in nature. By eating a food that many animals
don't want to eat, they put important nutrients back into
the soil that can be used by plants and other
animals.
North Carolina State University
