EPOD - a service of USRA
The Earth Science Picture of the Day (EPOD) highlights the diverse processes and phenomena which shape our planet and our lives. EPOD will collect and archive photos, imagery, graphics, and artwork with short explanatory
captions and links exemplifying features within the Earth system. The
community is invited to contribute digital imagery, short captions and
relevant links.
The Industrious Dung Beetle of South Africa
April 03, 2020
PattiW_DSC06550 2 (003)
PattiW_IMG_1889 2 (002)
Photographer: Patti Weeks
Summary Author: Patti Weeks
The peculiar behavior of the dung beetle — gathering, rolling and
feeding on animal excrement —serves several important functions:
cleaning up the environment, therefore reducing parasites, fertilizing
the soil once the dung is buried, and providing a food source for its
larvae. At least 6,000 species of dung beetles are found
worldwide, on all continents except Antarctica. Scientists have
recently discovered evidence that dung beetles have an evolutionary
link to the dinosaurs, beginning in the Lower Cretaceous Period
(145-100 million years ago.)
The dung beetle pictured here ( Scarabaeus lamarcki), is
classified as a ball roller, or a telocoprid, and is found in the
savanna region of South Africa. Thousands of beetles will descend
upon a fresh pile of animal feces. A male creates a ball, and using his
strong front legs against the ground, pushes the ball (up to 50 times
his weight) backward with his back legs in a straight line—as
quickly as possible to avoid thievery by a kleptocoprid dung
beetle. He excretes a pheromone to attract a female, who attaches
and clings to the ball as the male continues to push it in search of
soft soil. The couple uses their shovel-shaped heads to dig a hole
and bury the ball. The female lays one egg in this brood ball, and the
developing larva uses the dung as sustenance. The couple can repeat
this process and bury up to three balls in a single hole. The
outside of the buried ball hardens with dung and soil as a protective
layer for the larva. However, before the larva metamorphoses,
sometimes a honey badger can sniff out a buried ball, dig it up and
consume the grub as a tasty treat. The second photo shows one of the
rangers on my recent safari in the Waterberg Biosphere of South
Africa, holding the core of a dung ball broached by a honey badger.
While it may appear that dung beetles are going blindly backward
nowhere fast, they’re actually using a variety of celestial compass
cues to help them move in a straight line. Dung beetles have
photoreceptors in their eyes that allow them to see patterns of
symmetrical polarized light around the Sun, and after sunset, they
use the Moon, stars and possibly even the Milky Way for orientation. If
obstacles throw a beetle off his path, he’ll climb atop his ball and do
a dance, taking a snapshot of the sky for reorientation, then
continue rolling. Photos were taken in mid-December 2019.
Photo Details: Top - SONY DSC-RX10 IV camera; 220 mm focal length; f/4;
1/400 second exposure; ISO 100. Bottom - Same except 6 mm focal length;
f/2; 1/417 sec. exposure; ISO 20.
* Waterberg, South Africa Coordinates: -24.0750, 28.1417
Related EPODs
The Industrious Dung Beetle of South Africa Encore - Water
Strider Art Encore - Praying Mantis in Colombian Copal Love
Nest: Build it and She Will Come (maybe) Birds on the Move
Crown-of-Thorns Starfish
More...
Animal Links
* Animal Diversity Web
* ARKive
* BirdLife International
* Bug Guide
* Discover Life
* Integrated Taxonomic Information System
* Microbial Life Resources
Earth Science Picture of the Day is a service of the
-
Universities Space Research Association.
https://epod.usra.edu
--- up 10 weeks, 2 days, 14 hours, 5 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (21:1/186)