Dung beetle

Dung beetles are <a href="/facts/Beetle/hv33fxsL">beetles</a> that <a href="/facts/Coprophagia/qkC0aGDv">feed on feces</a>. All <a href="/facts/Species/oDg6b96r">species</a> of dung beetle belong to the superfamily <a href="/facts/Scarabaeoidea/K8Utl25Y">Scarabaeoidea</a>, most of them to the subfamilies <a href="/facts/Scarabaeinae/l2BpSsdo">Scarabaeinae</a> and <a href="/facts/Aphodiinae/cgkAk3Sx">Aphodiinae</a> of the family <a href="/facts/Scarabaeidae/5h4P6CFH">Scarabaeidae</a> (scarab beetles). As most species of Scarabaeinae feed exclusively on feces, that subfamily is often dubbed true dung beetles. There are dung-feeding beetles which belong to other families, such as the <a href="/facts/Geotrupidae/z1fDKRTM">Geotrupidae</a> (the earth-boring dung beetle). The Scarabaeinae alone comprises more than 5,000 species.
As they do not belong to a single group sharing a <a href="/facts/Common_ancestor/bwEgMu7F">common ancestor</a>, there is a diversity in the behavior of dung beetles, including the iconic dung-rolling behavior revered by <a href="/facts/Ancient_Egyptian/BDsEGK4g">Ancient Egyptians</a> as <a href="/facts/Khepri/97gL6SjG">Khepri</a> rolling the <a href="/facts/Sun/CadPCVHh">sun</a> across the sky.

Dung beetle open-in-new

Dung beetle