{"id":2429,"date":"2018-06-03T14:18:16","date_gmt":"2018-06-03T08:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gops.org\/?p=2429"},"modified":"2024-06-21T12:15:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-21T06:45:09","slug":"the-dung-beetle-and-its-dirty-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gops.org\/?p=2429","title":{"rendered":"THE DUNG-BEETLE AND ITS DIRTY JOB"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dungbtitle_1024.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-2431\" src=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dungbtitle_1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"732\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dungbtitle_1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dungbtitle_1024-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/dungbtitle_1024-768x549.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">In the end, what&#8217;s the point in worrying about those poor scavengers? However, these tiny creatures called Dung Beetles are actually far better than a lot of other animals in some ways. I had the opportunity to watch these small insects engaged in their habit of rolling in poop. These beetles are part of a group called Scarabaeoidea, and they typically eat dung or feces, and are often seen rolling the dung into balls to take back to their homes.<\/p>\n<div class=\"video-container\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/kqHtDCs8i7s?rel=0\" width=\"300\" height=\"150\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">As one of the planet&#8217;s oldest inhabitants, they developed alongside the dinosaurs that roamed 115 million years in the past. Currently, there exist more than 7000 distinct species of dung beetles. These insects are also depicted in ancient Egyptian writings, including Hieroglyphics.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style>\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 50%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-2429 gallery-columns-2 gallery-size-large'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gops.org\/?attachment_id=2467'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"627\" src=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptpainting_1024-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-2467\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptpainting_1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptpainting_1024-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptpainting_1024-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-2467'>\n\t\t\t\tDUNG BEETLE IN EGYPTIAN PAINTINGS\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon landscape'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/gops.org\/?attachment_id=2466'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"940\" height=\"627\" src=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptlocket_1024-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-2466\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptlocket_1024.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptlocket_1024-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/egyptlocket_1024-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class='wp-caption-text gallery-caption' id='gallery-1-2466'>\n\t\t\t\tDUNG BEETLE IN EGYPTIAN JEWELRY\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\" \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The astonishing truth about these tiny creatures is their incredible ability to lift heavy objects. While the strongest man on Earth can lift 2.3 times his own weight, a dung beetle has the strength to lift 50 times its body weight! And they do this by pushing with their back legs while balancing upside down, similar to a gymnast. In scientific experiments, a male horned dung beetle was found to be able to lift a weight that was 1141 times its own, which is as if a human could pull a load equivalent to six fully loaded double-decker buses with just their hands. Incredible, isn&#8217;t it?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2430\" style=\"width: 478px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/article-1260192-08DB40D8000005DC-928_468x295.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2430\" class=\"wp-image-2430 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/article-1260192-08DB40D8000005DC-928_468x295.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"468\" height=\"295\" srcset=\"https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/article-1260192-08DB40D8000005DC-928_468x295.jpg 468w, https:\/\/gops.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/article-1260192-08DB40D8000005DC-928_468x295-300x189.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 468px) 100vw, 468px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2430\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Picture courtesy : DailyMail, UK<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Typically, it&#8217;s the males who excel at crafting dung balls, although occasionally, you might come across a husband and wife team transporting a dung ball back to their home. A tiny beetle boy has the remarkable ability to transform a pile of elephant dung weighing 250 times his own weight into nothingness within a single night. Thanks to their skill in scavenging, the Australian government has utilized 45 different species of these beetles for the purpose of dung disposal. These committed workers have been silently serving for millions of years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Are you still complaining about your job ?!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In the end, what&#8217;s the point in worrying about those poor scavengers? However, these tiny creatures called Dung Beetles are actually far better than a lot of other animals in some ways. I had the opportunity to watch these small insects engaged in their habit of rolling in poop. These beetles are part of a group called Scarabaeoidea, and they typically eat dung or feces, and are often seen rolling the dung into balls to take back to their homes. &nbsp; As one of the planet&#8217;s oldest inhabitants, they developed alongside the dinosaurs that roamed 115 million years in the past. Currently, there exist more than 7000 distinct species of dung beetles. These insects are also depicted in ancient Egyptian writings, including Hieroglyphics. The astonishing truth about these tiny creatures is their incredible ability to lift heavy objects. While the strongest man on Earth can lift 2.3 times his own weight, a dung beetle has the strength to lift 50 times its body weight! And they do this by pushing with their back legs while balancing upside down, similar to a gymnast. In scientific experiments, a male horned dung beetle was found to be able to lift a weight that [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2431,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[493,486,351,487,490,485,484,10,38,11,40,491,492,488,489],"class_list":["post-2429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wonders-of-nature","tag-ball","tag-beetle","tag-blog","tag-bug","tag-carry","tag-dung","tag-dung-beetle","tag-gopan","tag-gopan-g-nair","tag-gops","tag-gops-org","tag-poop","tag-roll","tag-scarabaeoidea","tag-weight","post_format-post-format-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2429"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3379,"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2429\/revisions\/3379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gops.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}