Packages of dung beetles
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (383361)
Rockingham, Australia
June 26, 2026 10:22pm CST
Australia has a lot of cattle scattered over our land and of course they all defecate. Where there are a number of cows per acre/hectare, the ‘cow pats’ are the ideal breeding place for flies. One method of dealing with the problem is to introduce dung beetles. The different dung beetle species go dormant at different times so now cattlemen are introducing a variety of species so that the cleaning of paddocks is continual.
It seems there are three types: rollers, tunnellers and dwellers. Tunnellers bury and consume dung thus improving the soil, helping disperse seeds and keeping pastures clean. In the USA, an estimated $US380 million is saved annually by dung being buried.
In Australia, an exchange program between Tasmania and South Australia, and involving dung beetles has been going on for five years. Over 8,000 Bubas bison dung beetles are sent express post from South Australia to Tasmania, and in return, South Australian livestock farmers receive shipments of blue bomber beetles. Postal workers say you can hear the buzzing of the beetles from 5 to 10 metres away.
I wonder if they count out the 8.000 beetles one by one. (That’s a joke.)
The photo (courtesy Wikimedia, Kay-africa) shows a dung beetle moving a dung ball with its hind legs.
8 people like this
8 responses
@changjiangzhibin89 (17262)
• China
Just now
The dung beetles play an important role in the cleaning of paddocks ! Even though they do so out of the need for survival.
@MattMeng (3449)
• Hangzhou, China
34m
When I was a child, I heard that Australia specifically imported dung beetles from China to clean up cow dung. I'm not sure if that's true?
@Orson_Kart (8403)
• United Kingdom
2h
In my ignorance, I thought there was only dung beetles in Africa. I’ve often watched wildlife documentaries showing them rolling the dung across the Sahara desert. Fascinating! Now you are telling me you have them in Australia, and not only that but there isn’t just rollers, but tunnellers and dwellers. Mind-blowing!
I wonder how they do know there are 8,000 beetles in the box? Maybe by weight? Did you find out how?
Talking of how. Did you ever watch the British tv program called “How”? Jack Hargreaves (he used to smoke a pipe on the show), Fred Dineage, and others, whose names I can’t recall, used to tell you how things worked.
