It's All Dung To Me!

Fished this beetle out of my neighbor's pool today. It's a Dung Beetle (Onthophagus taurus) sometimes called a Powerful Dung Beetle. This species is native to Europe and Asia Minor and is found in neighborhoods and cattle pastures. Dog poop feces is it's meal of choice around here...I'm sure! This rather 'handsome' beetle is said to be the world's strongest insect, able to pull 1,141 times it's own weight. This would be equivalent to a human of average weight lifting 100 tons! Pretty dern impressive, I'd say!

Males of this species have curved horns sweeping over their backs, females have no horns. This lucky one is a male! Females bury 'pear-shaped' dung balls, each with a single egg, in tunnels dug next to a source of dung...I'll just leave that to your imagination;) They are a sparkly iridescent green and pink color. Here's a side shot of this fortunate fellow...showing his HORN. Come on now...you know you want to see it! Mr. Dung Beetle was very appreciative when I released him into some bushes.