Rainbow Scarab

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Indeed, the Rainbow Scarab (Phanaeus vindex) was my best find on the First Wed outing. I found it at the very end of the outing. So she was just traveling along slowly. Most of the time I find the Rainbow Scarabs in a pile of poop. So since she was nowhere near a pile, I picked her up.

I knew she was a female because she lacked the horn of either the major and minor males. The Rainbow Scarabs are known as tunnelers. They will excavate under the pile of dung.
Here was what got me excited about this female. Look carefully and you can see the two bunches of bugs on either side in the greenish area. The two orange things in the darker part are the antennae.

A close up without the bugs.
So I brought her home for a closer investigation of the bugs. And by that time the bugs had crawled to her underside.
Laying on its back I zoomed in on the bugs. After a search I found they were mites! Not only were they mites but these mites only occur on adults! “This predatory mite eats insect eggs, small insect larvae, and nematodes. Macrocheles amygdaligera appears to utilize the dispersal capabilities of the beetle in a symbiotic relationship known as phoresy, being transported from dung pat to dung pat by clinging to the beetle (Woodruff 1973).”

These and other species of dung beetles have been found to enrich clay soils by feeding on the dung. Thus dung beetles are important part of the ecosystem! And the Rainbow Scarabs are just so darn pretty!

A close up of the colors, bumps and ridges.

One last fact. If you should pick up a female, they will tuck in their legs and play dead. Just so cute. Some people even keep them as pets.

Researchers Identify The Most Voracious Predator The Earth Has Ever Known

Summer is here. Where are the fireflies?

Keep looking!

The more you know, the more you see and the more you see, the more you know

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