New Video Shows Dung Beetles Benefiting Humankind

Tuesday, February 09

With their jewel colors and prehistoric-looking legs and horns, scarab beetles may well be the most charismatic insects in the world. Yet they’re known more humbly as dung beetles due to their inordinate attraction to poop. Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History are discovering that these beetles’ dung-loving lifestyle is actually a huge help for humankind—and is at risk of decline.

To these beetles, dung is both a meal and a medium in which to lay their eggs. Dung beetles can clear a landscape of fresh dung within minutes, balling it up and burying it for their use. When you consider the amount of dung deposited on Earth—rain forest mammals in Panama, for example, drop 3,000 kilograms of it per kilometer per year—this is no small feat.

The beetles’ relocation of dung offers the land—and people—a number of services. Seeds present in the dung are planted, the soil becomes fertilized, and plant growth flourishes. What’s more, dung beetles literally take food from the mouths of the pests and parasites that thrive in dung and could otherwise harm humans and livestock. Because dung beetles are found nearly everywhere on Earth, their benefits add up. Dung beetle ecosystem services, for example, save the U.S. cattle industry an estimated 380 million dollars each year.

Elizabeth Nichols and Andrés Gómez, both researchers at the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation at AMNH, and Sacha Spector, an AMNH research associate, are now mapping the ecosystem services of dung beetles in moist tropical forests. The work is identifying where forestry and farming are making it harder for beetles to find suitable habitats. Human use of the land is hampering the beetle benefits we may take for granted.

View the new map in the latest BioBulletin Snapshot by AMNH’s Science Bulletins program, below. The piece will play as an HD video in AMNH’s Hall of Biodiversity and at 14 science centers worldwide until February 19th. It is the first in a series of BioBulletins to celebrate the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

Click to view ‘Dung Beetles Help from the Ground Up’