Y’all have heard the saying one person’s junk is another’s treasure, right? I believe this can be applied to nature as well.
A coyote’s scat was being utilized by multitude of species including the Roly-polys!
After stirring it a bit, I found a cockroach!
A shiny metallic beetle was present. Do you see the dark beetles too?
The shape intricated me. So back to the house it came.
This was one of the dark ones. A dung beetle called a Scooped Scarab (Onthophagus hecate)! The top view was what I found interesting in the field.
A side view was pretty awesome too! It wasn’t until I got it home that I saw the horn.
Tiny ants were having quite the field day with this dead creature. I could not determine what it was. Watching them for a few minutes, I observed the small workers did all the heavy lifting. The bigger ant just tried to act like it was helping. LOL At least that was how it looked from this human’s perspective. 🙂
Kathy had a roller dung beetle at her house!
Kathy made this video of the dung beetle with its treasure. “They roll it backwards a little, stop, climb on top then survey their direction before continuing with the rolling. They are fascinating.” Kathy said. And I have to agree! Thanks Kathy for sharing your photo and video.
So you might agree the waste in nature will be the treasure of another! Nature does not let anything go to waste!
The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know
7 Comments
Thanks Kathy for the video. When i was a kid i spent too much time watching dung beetles roll their balls. Then i had no idea why they had them in the first place.
Judy, if I had time I would follow one to its destination. I hear they put their ball of dung in a hole and lay eggs on it. But I have never hung with them long enough to see that part of it. I love how they stop and climb aboard to check their route. Quite entertaining.
Our other dung beetle species just breaks down the pile of manure. Love these roller dung beetles. I observed them a few years ago with cattle dung and loved how they paused, climbed aboard their ball and surveyed their surroundings then proceeding to roll. They had a plan. More interesting is that here so many miles south i will observe something like that fly at the same time as Mary. As varied as our state is we share so many things across the whole state.
Where would we be without these detritus eaters.
Thanks Kathy for the video. When i was a kid i spent too much time watching dung beetles roll their balls. Then i had no idea why they had them in the first place.
Judy, if I had time I would follow one to its destination. I hear they put their ball of dung in a hole and lay eggs on it. But I have never hung with them long enough to see that part of it. I love how they stop and climb aboard to check their route. Quite entertaining.
Love the dung beetles haha
Our other dung beetle species just breaks down the pile of manure. Love these roller dung beetles. I observed them a few years ago with cattle dung and loved how they paused, climbed aboard their ball and surveyed their surroundings then proceeding to roll. They had a plan. More interesting is that here so many miles south i will observe something like that fly at the same time as Mary. As varied as our state is we share so many things across the whole state.
Where would we be without these detritus eaters.
Kathy, you and I seemed to be on the same vibe … ha ha
Nice video, Kathy! That scooped scarab is very cool, Mary. Do both genders have the horn or just males?
Just the males have the horn.