Springtime dung beetle
Trypocopris vernalis
The springtime dung beetle is a round, shiny black beetle. It digs tunnels in the earth and hides animal poo down there for its babies. You see it most often in spring and early summer.
Lives in
Europe and Asia Minor, in open fields and young woods
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. It does not bite or sting.
What does it eat?
Its larvae eat the dung of animals such as sheep and foxes.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Springtime dung beetle about 0.5 km/h (0.31 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its name vernalis means of the spring.
2
In spring it can be the most common earth-digging dung beetle around.
3
Its black shell reflects very little of a kind of light that our eyes cannot see.
you asked
Most asked questions about Springtime dung beetle
?What does the springtime dung beetle eat?
Its larvae eat animal dung, like sheep and fox droppings.
?When can you see the springtime dung beetle?
Mostly in spring and early summer. It is rarely seen in autumn.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Trypocopris vernalis
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Geotrupidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Geotrupidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- Spring dor beetle, Spring dumbledor
Where the facts come from
- Trypocopris vernalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Holger Gröschl. CC BY-SA 2.0 de, 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.
Bug Wiki honey jar For grown-ups: Bug Wiki is free, with no ads and no tracking. A small tip helps keep it online.Leave a tip
Stag beetle
Hercules beetle
Common glow-worm
Goliath beetle
Cockchafer
Mealworm beetle
Ailanthus webworm
Purseweb spider
Silver-spotted skipper
Diamondback moth
Tiger bee fly
South American toothed hacklemesh weaver.jpg){kind=link}