Scarabaeus

Sturdy, shiny insects that roll perfect balls of dung and push them away like tiny bulldozers. Most are deep black or dark bronze with a smooth, rounded shell and strong, shovel-like front legs made for carving and packing. Their antennae end in little leaf fans that they can open and close to “smell” the air, which helps them find fresh droppings faster than most animals can spot lunch.

While many dung beetles simply live inside a dung pile or dig tunnels below it, Scarabaeus are the famous ball-rollers: they cut a piece of dung, shape it into a sphere, and then push it backward with their back legs, head down and feet churning like a tiny weightlifter. It looks funny, but it’s brilliant—rolling the prize away keeps it safe from thieves at the dung pile.

Teamwork is part of the story. A male often shapes and rolls the ball while a female rides or follows, and the pair works together to move it to a quiet spot. There, they bury it and make a brood ball: a food-packed nursery where the female lays a single egg. When the larva hatches, it has a full pantry ready to go. This simple family plan is a big reason Scarabaeus beetles matter so much to grasslands and savannas. ‘By cutting, rolling, and burying dung, they clean the surface, pull nutrients into the soil, make tiny pockets that hold water, and even help control flies and parasites that would otherwise breed in the mess. Farmers may never see the beetles at work, but they benefit from healthier pastures because of them.