Name: Dung Beetle also called tumblebugs
Scientific Name: Phanaeus vindex MacLachlan; Onthophagus gazella Fabricius
Length: 3 to 50 millimeters longLife Span: Up to 3 years.
Description: Some dung beetles are metallic blue and green and also copper in color white others are dull to shiny black in color.
Habitat: Dung beetles have many different habitats including farmland, grasslands, deserts, and forests.
Countries found in: More than 5000 species of dung beetle can be found in every continent with the exception of Antartica.
Babies: Eggs are deposited in balls of dung. Some species of dung beetles watch over the ball of dung while waiting for the young beetles to emerge. The dung beetle larvae live and feed off the dung ball.
Food: Dung, mushrooms, decaying matter such as leaves and fruit. Dung beetles do not "eat" the dung, but use their mouths to suck the juice from the undigested plant material in the manure.
Endangered: No
Interesting Facts: Dung beetles create dung balls and roll them with their hind legs.
The dung is eaten and also used to deposit eggs.
Dung beetles don't need to eat or drink anything else as they get all the nutrition they need directly from the dung they collect.
