Agriculture Dung beetles play a role in
agriculture and
tropical forests. By burying and consuming dung, they improve nutrient recycling and soil structure. Dung beetles have been further shown to improve soil conditions and plant growth on rehabilitated coal mines in South Africa. They are also important for the dispersal of seeds present in animals' dung, influencing seed burial and seedling recruitment in tropical forests. They can protect livestock, such as
cattle, by removing the dung which, if left, could provide habitat for
pests such as
flies. Therefore, many countries have
introduced the creatures for the benefit of
animal husbandry. The
American Institute of Biological Sciences reports that dung beetles save the
United States cattle industry an estimated
US$380 million annually through burying above-ground livestock feces. In Australia, the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) commissioned the
Australian Dung Beetle Project (1965–1985) which, led by
George Bornemissza, sought to introduce species of dung beetles from South Africa and Europe. The successful introduction of 23 species was made, most notably
Digitonthophagus gazella and
Euoniticellus intermedius, which has resulted in improvement of the quality and fertility of Australian cattle pastures, along with a reduction in the population of pestilent
Australian bush flies by around 90%. In 1995 it was reported that dung beetles were being trialled in the Sydney beach suburb of
Curl Curl to deal with dog droppings. An application made by
Landcare Research to import up to 11 species of dung beetle into
New Zealand was approved in 2011. As well as improving pasture soils the Dung Beetle Release Strategy Group said that it would result in a reduction in emissions of
nitrous oxide (a
greenhouse gas) from agriculture. There was, however, strong opposition from some at the
University of Auckland, and a few others, based on the risks of the dung beetles acting as vectors of disease. There were public health researchers at the University of Auckland who agreed with the
Environmental Protection Authority's risk assessment. Several Landcare programmes in Australia involved schoolchildren collecting dung beetles. The African dung beetle (
D. gazella) was introduced in several locations in North and
South America and has been spreading its distribution to other regions by natural dispersal and accidental transportation, and is now probably naturalized in most countries between
Mexico and
Argentina. The exotic species might be useful for controlling diseases of
livestock in commercial areas, and might displace native species in modified landscapes; however, data is not conclusive about its effect on native species in natural environments and further monitoring is required. The Mediterranean dung beetle (
Bubas bison) has been used in conjunction with
biochar stock fodder to reduce emissions of
nitrous oxide and
carbon dioxide, which are both greenhouse gases. The beetles work the biochar-enriched dung into the soil without the use of machines. Scientists in
Canberra in 1965 discovered that Dung beetles (Scarabaeids), specifically
Onthophagus australis Guérin-Méneville, improve plant yields using their dung.
Japanese millet was studied and data on nutrient uptake. These plants were placed in pots lacking
nitrogen,
phosphorus, and
sulfur.
Cow-dung was then added in treatment groups with or without
O. australis. Some treatment groups even had two out of the three nutrients supplemented in the pots. Comparisons of the treatment and control groups were made to show that top growth and roots significantly increased when the dung was mixed well into the soil in the pots. Results showed that dung beetle activity greatly improved plant life. The dung has little impact alone, but in combination with the dung beetle, the nutritional value for the plants increases greatly. This suggests that dung beetles have many positive implications for the environment, including a beneficial role with plant life.
In culture Some dung beetles are
used as food in
South East Asia and a variety of dung beetle species have been used
therapeutically (and are still being used in traditionally living societies) in potions and
folk medicines to treat a number of illnesses and disorders. In
Isan, Northeastern Thailand, the local people eat many different kinds of insects, including the dung beetle. There is an Isan song: "กุดจี่หายไปใหน" or "Where Did the Dung Beetle Go?", which relates the replacement of
water buffalo with the
"metal" buffalo, which does not provide the dung needed for the dung beetle and has led to the increasing rarity of the dung beetle in the agricultural region.
Ancient Egypt Several species of the dung beetle, most notably the species
Scarabaeus sacer (often referred to as
the sacred scarab), enjoyed a sacred status among the
ancient Egyptians. Egyptian hieroglyphic script uses the image of the beetle to represent a
triliteral phonetic that Egyptologists transliterate as
xpr or
ḫpr and translate as "to come into being", "to become" or "to transform". The derivative term
xprw or
ḫpr(w) is variously translated as "form", "transformation", "happening", "mode of being" or "what has come into being", depending on the context. It may have existential, fictional, or ontologic significance. temple complex The scarab was linked to
Khepri ("he who has come into being"), the god of the rising
sun. The ancients believed that the dung beetle was only male-sexed, and reproduced by depositing
semen into a dung ball. The supposed self-creation of the beetle resembles that of Khepri, who creates himself out of nothing. Moreover, the dung ball rolled by a dung beetle resembles the sun.
Plutarch wrote: The ancient Egyptians believed that Khepri renewed the sun every day before rolling it above the horizon, then carried it through the other world after sunset, only to renew it, again, the next day. Some
New Kingdom royal tombs exhibit a threefold image of the sun god, with the beetle as symbol of the morning sun. The astronomical ceiling in the tomb of
Ramses VI portrays the nightly "death" and "rebirth" of the sun as being swallowed by
Nut, goddess of the sky, and re-emerging from her womb as Khepri. in the
Valley of the Kings Excavations of ancient Egyptian sites have yielded images of the scarab in
bone,
ivory, stone,
Egyptian faience, and precious metals, dating from the Sixth Dynasty and up to the period of Roman rule. They are generally small, bored to allow stringing on a necklace, and the base bears a brief inscription or
cartouche. Some have been used as
seals.
Pharaohs sometimes commissioned the manufacture of larger images with lengthy inscriptions, such as the
commemorative scarab of Queen
Tiye. Massive sculptures of scarabs can be seen at
Luxor Temple, at the Serapeum in Alexandria (see
Serapis) and elsewhere in Egypt. The image of the scarab, conveying ideas of transformation, renewal, and resurrection, is ubiquitous in ancient Egyptian religious and
funerary art. The scarab was of prime significance in the funerary cult of ancient Egypt. Scarabs, generally, though not always, were cut from green stone, and placed on the chest of the deceased. Perhaps the most famous example of such "heart scarabs" is the yellow-green
pectoral scarab found among the entombed provisions of
Tutankhamen. It was carved from a large piece of
Libyan desert glass. The purpose of the "heart scarab" was to ensure that the heart would not bear witness against the deceased at judgement in the Afterlife. Other possibilities are suggested by the "transformation spells" of the
Coffin Texts, which affirm that the soul of the deceased may transform (
xpr) into a human being, a god, or a bird and reappear in the world of the living. One scholar comments on other traits of the scarab connected with the theme of death and rebirth: In contrast to funerary contexts, some of ancient Egypt's neighbors adopted the scarab motif for
seals of varying types. The best-known of these being Judean
LMLK seals (8 of 21 designs contained scarab beetles), which were used exclusively to stamp impressions on storage jars during the reign of
Hezekiah. The scarab remains an item of popular interest thanks to modern fascination with the art and beliefs of ancient Egypt. Scarab beads in semiprecious stones or glazed ceramics can be purchased at most bead shops, while at Luxor Temple a massive ancient scarab has been roped off to discourage visitors from rubbing the base of the statue "for luck".
In literature In
Aesop's fable "
The Eagle and the Beetle", the eagle kills a hare that has asked for sanctuary with a beetle. The beetle then takes revenge by twice destroying the eagle's eggs. The eagle, in despair, flies up to
Olympus and places her latest eggs in
Zeus's lap, beseeching the god to protect them. When the beetle finds out what the eagle has done, it stuffs itself with dung, goes straight up to Zeus and flies right into his face. Zeus is startled at the sight of the unpleasant creature, jumping to his feet so that the eggs are broken. Learning of the origin of their feud, Zeus attempts to mediate and, when his efforts to mediate fail, he changes the breeding season of the eagle to a time when the beetles are not above ground.
Aristophanes alluded to Aesop's fable several times in his plays. In
Peace, the hero rides up to Olympus to free the goddess Peace from her prison. His steed is an enormous dung beetle which has been fed so much dung that it has grown to monstrous size.
Hans Christian Andersen's "The Dung Beetle" tells the story of a dung beetle who lives in the stable of the king's horses in an imaginary kingdom. When he demands golden shoes like those the king's horse wears and is refused, he flies away and has a series of adventures, which are often precipitated by his
feeling of superiority to other animals. He finally returns to the stable having decided (against all logic) that it is for him that the king's horse wears golden shoes. In
Franz Kafka's
The Metamorphosis, the transformed character of Gregor Samsa is called an "old dung beetle" (
alter Mistkäfer) by a
charwoman. ==See also==