Dung Beetle Coloring Sheet

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Why Do Dung Beetles Roll Piles of Poop?

Have you ever built a snowman by rolling a snowball until it gets bigger and bigger? Dung beetles do something similar…except they roll poop. Yes, poop!

There are around 9,500 kinds of dung beetles, and they live almost everywhere in the world (every continent except Antarctica). Some are tunnelers, some are dwellers, and some are rollers. Today we’re focusing on the rollers, the ones that carve out a chunk of dung and turn it into a nearly perfect ball.

Roller Dung Beetles

Dung beetles roll dung balls because they need to move their treasure to a safer place.

A fresh dung pile is like a busy buffet with tons of competition. If a beetle stays too long, another beetle might steal its food. So a roller beetle quickly shapes a ball and rolls it away, often to bury it underground or stash it in a burrow.

And these poop balls can be huge. Some can weigh around 50 times more than the beetle rolling them. That is like you pushing something as heavy as a female hippo.

How Do Dung Beetles Make a Perfect Poop Ball?

Dung beetles are like little sculpture artists. They carve, pack, and shape dung into a sphere, a smooth round shape that rolls best.

God also designed dung beetles with special sensors to find dung fast.

Chemoreceptors on their antennae help them sense animal scat from far away, even in the dark. Once they find it, they use their legs like tools:

• The front legs carve and grab.
• The middle and back legs help shape and hold.
• Then the strong back legs roll the ball away.

Why Do Dung Beetles Collect Dung?

Dung is both food and a nursery.

Adult dung beetles slurp nutritious liquids from wet dung. Many mothers also create a special brood ball, laying a single egg inside and burying the dung ball. When the egg hatches, the baby larva wakes up surrounded by food. That is breakfast in bed, beetle-style.

Dung beetles also do an important job in God’s world. They are detritivores, which means they help clean up decaying material and animal waste and mix it into the soil so it can become nutrients for plants. They are a clean-up crew and recyclers all at once.

How Is a Dung Beetle Like a Tiny Beetle Astronomer?

Here is the wild part: dung beetles can roll their poop balls in a straight line using the night sky.

They have a special area in their eye called the Dorsal Rim Area (DRA), like a built-in compass for sky patterns. After forming a ball, a dung beetle will even climb on top, look up, and do a little dance to get its bearings. Then it rolls away, backward, as straight as it can.

Scientists tested this with tiny hats (yes, hats). When beetles wore cardboard hats that blocked the sky, they struggled to steer straight. When they wore clear hats, they could navigate again. Tests even showed they can use the bright streak of the Milky Way as a guide.

How Can We Use God’s Word to Find Our Way?

God gave dung beetles a night sky compass. He has given us something even better: His Spirit and His Word.

Jesus said the Spirit of truth will guide us, and Psalm 119:105 reminds us:

“Your word is like a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.”

We do not have to wander in circles. When we read God’s Word and listen for His guidance, He helps us take the next right step.

Learn more about dung beetles on our nature podcast for kids and families: