Report by Greg Holland in the Mornington Peninsula Landcare Network Newsletter April 2024
Hard-working Dung Beetles
As part of their AGM, the Equine Landcare Group conducted a talk, walk and search for dung beetles on a Peninsula Property, led by Karen Thomas from Melbourne Water, who gave up some precious weekend time to pass on some of her impressive knowledge.
The introduction of exotic dung beetles into Australia has been and Australian success story, with millions of beetles working to clear cow, horse, and sheep dung from the surface and distributing nutrients deep into the soil. A good history of this introduction may be found here.
We do have around 500 native dung beetle species, but these have evolved to live off the coarse, dry dung from our native animals. The large sloppy cow dung is beyond the capacity of all but a few natives. Enter the exotics that evolved on just this type of poo and the rest is history.
How do you tell if any are around? Why tear apart fresh, juicy pats, for sign of beetles and their holes into the ground. Or carry a bucket of water, drop a patty in, mix it up and wait for the beetles to float to the top.
Yuk you say!
The kids dived right in and soon adults and kids alike were scattering out across the paddock, scratching through poo, and excitedly chattering about their discoveries.
General identification is easy. Place a beetle on the crack between two fingers, these strong little diggers will soon claw their way through. As a general rule the smaller beetles are native, bigger ones are exotic. Do also look out for the odd problem beetle such as the African Black Beetle (Heteronychus arator). For a more precise answer, load a photo up onto iNaturalist, or purchase the excellent little field guide Introduced Dung Beetles in Australia.
Interested in doing the same? Contact Karen Thomas at Melbourne Water.
- Greg Holland.
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