Don’t play with poo — unless you’re a dung beetle. Then, by all means! This insect plays with animal excrement (*shudder*), and while it may be gross, it’s actually a crucial part of our ecosystem.

"I have found 12 different dung beetle species [in this little patch of Worcester]," she says proudly. "I think people don't appreciate the biodiversity that's right in their backyard. Essentially ...

Dung beetles have been around since the time of the dinosaurs. They then flourished as mammals and their droppings increased. These insects are now found on every continent, except Antarctica. 'The ...

This was just one of two new species that was recently described by Deschodt, who has been involved in the discovery and description of more than 50 new dung beetle species. News about the species ...

This was just one of two new species that was recently described by Deschodt, who has been involved in the discovery and description of more than 50 dung beetle species. News about the species ...

Within 15 days of exploration, we collected over 4,000 specimens of dung beetles, classified into 30 species. Of these species, half are new to science, and several are new country records.

They eat and bury manure from many other species, recycling nutrients and improving soil as they go. Dung beetles are found on every continent except Antarctica, in forests, grasslands ...

Caroline Chaboo’s eyes light up when she talks about tortoise beetles. Like gems, they exist in myriad bright colors: shiny blue, red, orange, leaf green and transparent flecked with gold.

Oddly, the beetles had also eaten about a dozen species of fruit, and one had consumed pollen from a tropical plant called syngonium. The implications could be vast. “The dung beetle that ate ...