Beetles make up the largest order in the whole animal kingdom, approximately 300,000 species have been discovered. Dung beetle belongs to the family scarabaeidae together with rhino beetles. In Africa there are about 2000 species of dung beetles. Dung beetles were associated with resurrection in ancient Egypt, due to their behavior of burying dung and themselves and reemerging a couple of months later. Symbols of dung beetle were therefore placed in tombs in the belief that the deceased will be resurrected. Males carry horns, which serve the function of impressing females.
The front part of the tooth is toothless; this serrated edge is used to cut out dung. The front arms are toothed and used as digging instruments. The thorax is well developed to aid in flying and digging. Dung beetle have antennae, which are covered with sensory organs, these are fanned out are used by beetle to smell the air for dung. The mount parts are highly adapted to feeding on dung, they act like a filtering brush when feeding, discarding the unwanted bits. The hind legs are bowed and longer for ball rolling.
Males usually initiate ball rolling in the ball rolling type. After cutting the ball away, he moves away from the pile of dung and secrets a pheromone to attract the female. once a female have been attracted by the scent ,she will make some adjustments to the dung ball and then either follow the follow the male, or perch on top of the ball. In doing so the female, conserves much needed energy for the brood stage .a suitable site is located, often under a bush and the dung ball is buried. At this stage, mating takes places over a period of two to three days.
The male then abandons the brood and then returns to normal activities. The females takes the ball apart and removes the sticks ,stones ,etc and rebuilds it, leaving a chimney in the top of the ball vents for the larvae, which digs down into the ball and breathe through the event .larvae emerges and remain in the dung ball for four to five months until the dung beetle finally emerges.
The females feeds on fungus growing on the dung ball, this serves to clean the ball. The larvae do not defecate in the ball, they store their feaces in a fermentation chamber and use the fermented dung to plaster their ball as it begins to show signs of weakness. Dung beetles are divided in four main types namely; telecoprids , paracoprids, endocoprids and kleptocoprids.The rollers (telecoprids) make up only 10%of dung beetles found In Africa. They get balls of dung away from the dung heap as quickly as possible to avoid the competition, sometimes it takes only thirty seconds to cut out a suitable ball. Some of these balls roll a food ball and a separate and lager brood ball. Most roll backward, some forwards.
The tunnellers (paracoprids)are active during the early evening and night. They emerge from the ground and can measure light intensity, once the desired conditions are present and the beetle emerges like a rocket and searches for food. Once located it tunnels under the dung and constructs a series of tunnels under heap into which it rounded balls of dung are stored and used. The dwellers (endocoprids) live in the dung heap itself and also cut out balls of dung. These species are well adapted to cold, dry conditions where the ground is hard. kleptocoprids steal other dung beetles balls and roll them as their own.
Dung beetles are of great significance since they constructs tunnels network underground, this aerates the ground .They fertilize the ground by spreading the dung out and burying it. They also prevent flies and maggots and other parasites from breeding in the dung, in vast numbers by dispersing it within a couple of hours, thus preventing the spread of deadly diseases. They also control human feaces where about 40,000 tons of waste are buried by dung beetles. Livestock also dependent on dung beetles, which protect them against flies ,parasites like worms ,and against ticks.
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