Popeye dung beetle
The Popeye dung beetle is a big blackish-grey beetle from southern Africa. It makes balls out of animal dung and rolls them away. It is the biggest ball-rolling dung beetle in the world that can fly.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
It walks on its very strong front legs while it pushes the dung ball along.
Its front legs have soft, velvety reddish patches that it uses to wipe its eyes clean.
Its eyes point downwards, so it can see the ground well while it flies.
The male makes the ball. A female who likes his ball comes and helps him roll it.
It rolls its ball away from other beetles so they cannot steal it, then buries it in the ground.
Most asked questions about Popeye dung beetle
?Is the Popeye dung beetle dangerous?
No. It does not bite or sting people.
?What does the Popeye dung beetle eat?
Animal dung, especially from buffalo and elephants.
?Why does a dung beetle roll a ball?
It rolls the ball away from other beetles and buries it, so its family has food.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Pachylomera femoralis
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Scarabaeidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Scarabaeidae
- Lives on
- Africa
Where the facts come from
- Pachylomera femoralis (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 Sarefo. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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