It’s a dangerous time of year to be out at dusk.The dung beetles are swarming.
Just as the sun sets the beetles take to the air, at break-neck speed, looking for fresh manure to munch on.
They’re after the bacteria in the poo, and they’re also looking for a place to lay their eggs.
When they’ve found a pat that’s fresh and runny, they dive into the soil and dig tunnels ruler-length deep. Then they roll up balls of poo and take them to the bottom of the tunnels where they pop in an egg – which won’t hatch for maybe three, six or even 12 months depending on the season. The larvae’s then got a ready-made meal when it hatches out.
We’re seeing a lot of over-enthusiastic dung beetles on our barbed wire at the moment. You’d think with so much air above the fences they wouldn’t put their flight paths between the wires.There are also quite a few beetles laying on top of cow pats, toes in the air, who I think may have over-indulged.
Dung beetles play a vital role on farms in cleaning up effluent. When they drag it down into the soil they’re adding organic matter, aerating the ground, and removing the temptation for flies.
They’re also good for the health of our animals. Within manure there can be larvae of nasty parasites like roundworm. But at 30cm underground the larvae can’t survive. Dung beetles can destroy 70 per cent of roundworm larvae in manure.
The type of dung beetle we see most often is the Blue Bomber, a Spanish species introduced into Tasmania 20 years ago by our friend Graeme Stevenson. We do have native beetles, but they’ve got more of a taste for wallaby and possum poo.
Graeme now collects the beetles and sells them to farmers on the mainland. A year ago I went on a trapping expedition with him. You can hear some rather funny audio from the trip here.
Over the next few weeks I suggest wearing a helmet and safety glasses if you’re out at dusk.
It’s the time of year when “injury by dung beetle” starts appearing on hospital emergency lists.
It's just as bad on my early morning walk too. Lucky they make so much noise. They always make me think of a bomber plane.
ReplyDeleteOh I'm new to your blog too. I'm just a little west of you.
cheers Kate
Is that beetle speared or clinging to that barb? Geez...your post was so compelling Eliza I care about the health & safety of a dung beetle!
ReplyDeleteMmmm. The whose poo of Penguin. Great post!
ReplyDeleteButcher Birds are putting them on the wire they are not crashing , they hunt even when they are full and this is the way they store their catch. I have watched them do this and if you have any cactus plants about you will find them head first on them as well , they put them on that way so they dont crawl off , aint nature grand.
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