The Dung Beetle

I first heard about this from Brother Beau Hicks, pastor of Jones Prairie Independent Baptist Church, Jones Prairie, Texas.

Even the lowly dung beetle (Scarabaeoidea) is wonderfully made by the voice of God. 

“In a study published in the scientific journal Current Biology, researchers say dung beetles take ‘snapshots’ of the stars and store the images in their brains.

After conducting an experiment in which some beetles wore cardboard hats that blocked their views of the stars, researchers determined that “dung beetles can roll their balls of dung in straight lines by using the Milky Way as a compass queue.” Warrant added that the tiny waste harvester wearing the cardboard hats just “rolled around and around and around in circles. They couldn’t keep a straight path.”

This happens during the “dance,” a behavior in which the beetle climbs on top of its ball and rotates about its vertical axis.

“In order to protect their food from competitors, ball-rolling dung beetles detach a piece of dung from a pile, shape it into a ball, and roll it away along a straight path. They appear to rely exclusively on celestial compass cues to maintain their bearing.”

“In the most elaborate carry-out scenario, the dung beetles must first stake claim to their piece of poop at the main dung pile, then shape it into a sphere for easy transport, fend off other dung beetles trying to steal it, and then — using the stars to navigate — determine the fastest way to roll their prize away to a safe spot for consumption.”

From Dung Beetles Navigate Poop-Pile Getaways Using Celestial ‘Snapshots’ and “A Snapshot-Based Mechanism for Celestial Orientation,” Current Biology, Volume 26, Issue 11, June 2016.

God made all things, and all things by him are gloriously made. See Colossians 1:16 and Revelation 4:11.