Fabulous news! Found several species of Dung Beetle in our paddocks today with Steven Williams, a very knowledgeable young man from the Oxford Natural History Museum, www.oum.ox.ac.uk . Geotrupes spiniger a great little Dor Beetle, Aphodius fimetarius, Aphodius foetens, Aphodius fossor, Aphodius haemorrhoidalis and Aphodius rufipes. I always think A. haemorrhoidalis is a rather unfortunate name for such a gorgeous invertebrate and my personal favourite has to be the Dor Beetle Geotrupes spiniger who is a cracking 25mm long. Now while I accept some of you will not find it that thrilling, I am personally chuffed to bits. Dung Beetles are hugely important little fellows and must not get muddled with a group of water beetles who also find a large steaming lump of you know what irresistible. Without Dung Beetles beetling away under those you know what's, we would live in a very smelly and unhealthy world. They are the sewage workers on a 24/7 shift breaking down literally tonnes of dung every day. Another thing to remember is that less dung lying around equals less flies. They also indicate a healthy ecosystem. The ancient Egyptians, ( the Awful Egyptians I am told by a couple of Horrible Histories fans) believed it was a Scarab Beetle, who is in fact a Dung Beetle, that rolled the Sun across the sky and therefore was sacred. Dung Beetles can be split into three groups; those that live in it, those that tunnel under it and those that roll it. They all have big powerful front legs and really are fabulous little chaps.
For those that are truly interested we were examining horse, sheep and cow dung.
PS washed hands really well....
Aphodius rufipes. I call him Rufus and isn't he gorgeous?
This is Carmen, my youngest sons pedigree show cow and the supplier of some very posh dung.
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