If you have dung beetles in your pasture – you have a recycling ecosystem and that’s a Good Thing!  When we first moved to our ranch, I noticed these beetles working on our house dog’s dung piles.  It is rather interesting to be standing in the yard and have a swarm of flying insects start swirling near you.  When it first happened to me, I thought the flying insects were flies, or bees or something like that so was ready to get out of their way.  Then as they came in for a landing in a very curious circular movement, I discovered that they were landing right on the dung pile and were just beetles.  They work quickly and in no time have a section of the dung cut away and are beginning to roll it.  Head down and back legs doing all of the pushing they get that dung ball moving very fast for a little beetle. 

This guy below has already cut away his little ball of dung and has separated it from the rest of the pile.  He is sitting on top of the ball, but soon will be rolling it away.

There are actually two beetles in this picture – can you find both of them?

Sorry you’re looking at poo, but the dung beetles are kind of fascinating.

Something I found on the internet -

Dung beetles are just one small part of the pasture ecosystem, but too important to ignore. To summarize dung beetle benefits: Increased pasture yields resulting from the incorporation of organic matter into the soil with an increase in soil friability, aeration, and water holding capacity. Reduction of other insect pest populations that breed in animal feces. Prevention of pasture surface pollution. Reduction of animal diseases by removing contaminated feces from pasture surfaces. Return to the soil of nutrients that would otherwise be tied up in fecal deposits and unavailable to pasture grasses. Increased effective grazing areas of pastures covered by feces. Reduced nitrogen loss in livestock feces.