huge variety of the insect world attracts naturalists and lovers watch the wildlife.Dung beetle (Scarab) - interesting being one of the most ancient insects that inhabit our planet.They have chosen themselves rather unusual segment of the food chain.
dung beetle: photos, habitat, especially
On the African continent lives a lot of herbivores.Many of them are quite large.For example, an elephant can eat up a quarter of a ton of vegetable food per day.Much of this impressive mass naturally become waste.Huge heaps of manure are a haven for a variety of insects, for they are not only a habitat but also a source of food.One of these insects is a dung beetle.
total there are about six hundred species.A lot of lives on the African continent.All of them are adapted to the utilization of manure piles.This is done by well-established pattern.Dung beetle rolls dung of animals in a small spherical shape of a ball, picking his front paws.This is done quickly enough.Because if the beetle hesitated and would tinker with one ball for a long time, the dry manure (which is undesirable).Fresh pile of elephant dung can be disposed of hordes of insects in a very short time.This high efficiency is very useful on farms where cattle are bred.For example, in Australia, dung beetles were imported specifically to deal with the waste, which produced increasing numbers of local cattle.
Purpose balls and reproduction
beetle dung beetle quickly forms a ball of fresh dung and then roll it in a secluded place.His first task - to find a shaded land.Sometimes it is not easy, and insects have to overcome more than a dozen meters.In a suitable location the ball buried in the ground.It will serve two purposes - food and reproduction.While individual beetle is still young, she rolls the dung balls to eat them.But after puberty they will lay their eggs.Among them later develop adult dung beetle.The larva that hatches from the first egg will eat the contents of the ball as they grow.Female scarab, which is plugged into the majority of their time, it is necessary to add to the bowl extra servings of fresh manure.
Beetle and symbols
Black beetle with wings metallic shade was one of the most popular and revered symbols of ancient Egypt.The people of this country very closely watched the nature and creatures inhabiting it.They noticed that dung beetles roll their balls from east to west, as if repeating the path of the sun in the sky.Therefore, the scarab was considered a sacred insect that symbolizes the revival of the power of life and creation.In the form of a beetle produce various print decorations, amulets.Preserved various sculptures and paintings funeral details as scarabs.
