Sustainable Parasite Management

• Scarabaeinae (Large Dung Beetles)
• Aphodiinae (Small Dung Beetles)
• Cetoniinae (Fruit chafers)
• Dynastinae (Rhinoceros beetle)
• Rutelinae (Flower chafers)
• Melolonthinae (Leaf chafers)

1. Rollers
   • The rollers handle dung by rolling it away to bury it far from where it was first dropped. The dung is rolled into spherical balls, called brood balls, which is used as a food source or a brooding chamber. These brood balls are often rolled together by the two partners, but in some cases the females climb onto the ball and are rolled off with it by the male. One egg is deposited in each brood ball and a female can construct on average about six of these brood balls in her lifetime.
     
   
   
   
2. Tunnellers
   • The tunnelers handle dung by tunneling vertically underneath the dung and burying a portion of it below ground. The advantage of burying dung is not just to prolong its suitability as a food item and as a habitat by reducing its exposure to environmental elements, but it also protects the developing grubs from parasites and predators. The female (and sometimes the male) remains with her brood not only after the eggs hatch, but until the larvae pupate, in some cases taking up to 4 months.
     
   
3. Dwellers
   • The dwellers simply lay their eggs directly into the dung where it was dropped. The entire development from egg to adult takes place in the dung pat. Most of these species are relatively small but prefer large droppings and seem to be especially partial to cattle dung. The adults can be found in fresh droppings while the slowly developing larvae are easiest to find in dung that is a couple of weeks old.
     
   

• Competition occurs for both food and space in a dung pat. In the species that dig underground, larval competition is largely removed as the food the adult provides for each larva remains uncontested by other larvae. Competition for space has been resolved by the rollers, which are able to locate an uncrowded place for their dung balls. The table below shows potential for competition between the 3 groups.

• Dung beetles occur on every continent except Antarctica. They inhabit a variety of habitats, including desert, farmland, forest and grassland and don’t like extremely dry or cold weather.

General appearance:
Members of the Scarab family vary in size from about 1mm to the giant Goliath beetle (Subfamily: Cetoniinae) which can reach up to 11cm.

They come in an array of colours from dull and glossy black to metallic green to red.

Males of some species have horns on the head or thorax

Some species have strong and often ‘toothed’ legs specialized for rolling dung and burrowing.

• Many dung beetles feed on mushrooms, decaying leaves and fruit but most feed on dung excreted by herbivores and omnivores. Adults feed on the fluid part of the dung while larvae feed on the whole dung (fluid and fiber). Dung beetles can detect dung from a considerable distance by their strong sense of smell. They do not require any other food source, NOT EVEN WATER, as the dung provides all the necessary nutrients

• Dung beetles are very strong fliers and can fly several kilometers in one flight. Some species are day fliers, flying during daylight, and some species are night fliers, flying at dusk and dawn. Some species are flightless e.g. Circellium bacchus found in the Addo Elephant National Park.

1. The female dung beetle lays a single egg inside each brood ball
2. The larva hatches a few days later
3. A few weeks later the larva pupates
4. The adult emerges from the brood ball
5. Adult beetles gather dung to form a brood ball which will nourish the next generation of larvae

The time between egg laying and adult emergence can vary from one month to a year or more depending on the species.