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Scarab Beetle — printable fact sheet
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Scarab Beetle
Scarabaeus sacer
The scarabs (family Scarabaeidae) include the dung beetles, and the ball-rolling species are responsible for one of the most surprising discoveries in animal navigation. A beetle that has carved a ball from a dung pat must get it away from the pile fast, before rivals steal it, …
Did you know?
- Scarab beetles have been found in tombs dating back over 3,000 years, often crafted as amulets and seals.
- Dung beetles are the only animals known to navigate by the Milky Way. One species, Onthophagus taurus, can pull more than 1,100 times its own body weight, making it the strongest insect ever measured. Australia had to import African and European dung beetles from the 1960s because native species, adapted to dry marsupial pellets, ignored cattle pats, and the untouched dung was breeding plagues of bush flies. Some dung beetles skip dung altogether and specialise in millipede carcasses or, in one Amazonian case, ride on the backs of giant land snails.
What I learned
Draw the scarab beetle
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