Friday fun: Scarabaeidae Scarabaeinae

November 17, 2006

Consumer warning: This has absolutely nothing to do with real estate!

Last December my wife and I took a one-month holiday in southern Africa. One of the highlights was a several day stay in Mokolodi Game Reserve near Gaborone, Botswana where we were entertained by several viewings of Scarabaeidae Scarabaeinae, more commonly known as “Dung Beetles.”

These remarkable scatalogically-obsessed creatures — sort of the Borats of the insect world — are about 2-3 inches long and expend an enormous amount of energy furiously and determinedly rolling up, uh, dung into balls the size of a lemon and pushing these balls — backwards! — to their nests. Nothing can stand in their way, not pools of water, not rocks many times their size, not curious camera-toting tourists.

Tags:

Written by Kevin · Filed Under Dung beetles | 1 Comment