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Sticker of Heath dumble dor
Bug card No. 2203 of 4,939

Heath dumble dor

Trypocopris pyrenaeus

The heath dumble dor is a sturdy dung beetle. It is black, but in the light it shines green, blue and violet. Its smooth wing covers gleam like polished metal.

Lives in
Western and southern Europe, from Britain to Spain, Italy and Bulgaria
Length
1.2 to 2.6 cm (0.47 to 1 in)
Top speed
about 0.66 km/h (0.41 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It is a slow, gentle beetle.
What does it eat?
It eats animal droppings, and sometimes mushrooms too. It carries dung into its nest as food for its babies.
For real!Photo of Heath dumble dor
Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Heath dumble dor about 2.6 cm long (1 in)A grain of rice about 6 mm (0.24 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)
as long as 4 grains of rice in a rowcould run across a dinner table in 5.5 seconds

How big is Heath dumble dor compared to YOU?

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How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

It carries pieces of animal poo into its nest, and the mother lays her eggs on them. The babies have food ready as soon as they hatch.

2

Sometimes it eats mushrooms as well.

3

You can find it from spring to summer.

4

It can be anything from 12 to 26 millimetres long, so some are twice as big as others.

you asked

Most asked questions about Heath dumble dor

?What does the heath dumble dor eat?

Mostly animal droppings, and sometimes mushrooms.

?Is the heath dumble dor dangerous?

No. It is a gentle beetle that cannot hurt you.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Trypocopris pyrenaeus
Named by
Charpentier, 1825
Group
Beetles
Family
Geotrupidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Geotrupidae
Lives on
Europe

Where the facts come from

  1. Trypocopris pyrenaeus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by Hectonichus. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.

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