Why do dung beetles roll piles of poo and stag beetles have large jaws?
Posted on 02. Nov, 2010 by raiders1 in Nature
I found out that beetles are a curious little bunch of creatures. I personally have never had an interest in them.
But being into nature and getting more involved in my children’s love of nature and creatures, I am seeking out more information about all the little creatures around us.
Why like flies, dung beetles are very fond of faeces is something very odd to me. Dung beetles spend a lot of time carefully building balls of dung to roll over to a nest site so they along with their larvae, can feed on it. One good thing about this is that they as well as other insects are very useful when it comes to recycling. There are some male and female species who cooperate in building one large dung ball. Some species prefer to just construct one each. Others you will find will construct many dung balls and stock up on them in their nest. These stinky loving creatures can be found in various sizes in North America, Africa and Mexico.
Now for the stag beetles having such large jaws, well they are only on the male stag beetles. The female has a mouth part about one-sixth of her actual size. The males use their jaws to fight for the female beetles. When they go to war they try to force each other off a tree trunk where the female is most likely to lay eggs. These beetles can be found all over Europe and worldwide there are over 1,000 varieties.
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