Nature’s Perfect Recycler
By Crystal Ball
The Scarab Beetle Is Also Known As the Dung Beetle
These scarabs-also known as dung beetles-are important because they eat dung and decaying vegetables .
Our planet would have been buried in manure long ago if it hadn’t been for the dung beetle.
Whether in the plains of Africa, the jungles of the Amazon, or the cattle ranches of Texas, thousands of dung beetles do their work.
Each day beetles clear away millions of tons of droppings from messy mammals.
The dung can be whisked away in a matter of hours or minutes. Like earthworms, they churn up and aerate the soil making it rich to grow crops. They bury what they don’t eat, and this adds nitrogen to the soil.
The African beetle’s outer skin is like armor. Its stout legs are like scoops and rakes used to gather dung.
They’re the perfect pooper scoopers!