Beetle Biology
The Scarab, or Scarabeus Sacer, is a species of beetle more commonly known as the dung beetle. These beetles are known for their habit of rolling balls of dung, twice their own body size or larger, and depositing them into their burrows where their eggs can hatch. Once the dung is in the burrow the females lay their eggs inside the dung balls that will serve as nutrients for the larvae. Once the dung is totally consumed, the beetle then emerges from the ground, as if out of nowhere.
The Scarab, or Scarabeus Sacer, is a species of beetle more commonly known as the dung beetle. These beetles are known for their habit of rolling balls of dung, twice their own body size or larger, and depositing them into their burrows where their eggs can hatch. Once the dung is in the burrow the females lay their eggs inside the dung balls that will serve as nutrients for the larvae. Once the dung is totally consumed, the beetle then emerges from the ground, as if out of nowhere.
All species of beetles have antennas which they use as sensory organs, and the horns or protuberances growing on the head or thorax of the male scarab is used for combat.
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleopetra
Family: Scarabaeidae
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Coleopetra
Family: Scarabaeidae
Dung beetles are quite skilled at directing their balls of dung in a perfectly straight line, and they way they do this is what some have labeled as a type of "dance". In the beetle's dance, the dung beetle climbs on top of the dung ball and rotate around it trying to find a straight pathway, with the help from the sun. During the first stages of the so called dance, the beetle determines the direction of the sun relative to they path they have chosen for their ball. Once they establish a well directed path, they climb down and start pushing with their legs. To make things more interesting, they actually push their balls from behind the ball by pushing with their back legs, and walking on their front.
After the female lays the eggs in the dung, both the male and female work together to roll the dung and eggs into a perfect ball, usually bigger than the actual beetles.
Life Cycle of the Dung Beetle