Scientific Classification
KINGDOM: Animalia
PHYLUM: Arthropoda
CLASS: Insecta
ORDER: Coleoptera
INFRAORDER: Scarabaeiformia
SUPERFAMILY: Scarabaeoidea
They come in a variety of colors usually ranging from brown to black assortments.
Dung beetles are not only the world’s strongest insect, but they are also the world’s strongest animal! Relative to their size, dung beetles can push or pull a dung ball 1,141 times its own weight. When not pushing balls, the dung beetles use their strength to fend off other males.
There are three categories of dung beetles: rollers, tunnelers, and dwellers. Rollers roll dung into balls to live in and eat, tunnelers bury the dung, and dwellers simply live in it.
You can see dung beetles climbing on top of their dung balls for various reasons. One is that their feet get hot when they’re rolling it across the scorching sand, so they’ll climb on top to cool their feet. Second, dung beetles get up higher to orient themselves using the Milky Way to find their way home!