# dung beetles



## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

From reading I have determined that some areas of the USA have had dung beetles from Africa introduced. I have also determined that in Australia one can buy dung beetles. However, here in the USA I have not been able to locate a source of dung beetles for introduction to my beef farm. My observation is that I only have one type of beetle and I would like to get some additional species. Does anyone know of a source or are aware of having a variety of dung beetles in their area. I would be happy to pay some children to collect the dung balls than contain the egg/larva. Any takers?


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## Sabrina67 (Mar 24, 2008)

We never see any Dung Beetles anymore..My mom and I were talking about that not long ago ( I know ...we have no life...). 
When I was small I rememeber they were everywhere. Interesting...I may start looking closer to see if I can spot any. LOL


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## mistletoad (Apr 17, 2003)

We have seen them - they seem to like dog poo, but I haven't seen any in the cow pasture. Thinking about it I haven't seen any around the old dog kennel either - the chickens probably got them all after the dog wasn't there to keep them away.


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## wstevenl (Mar 26, 2008)

We have dung beetles on our 10 acres. We just started grazing this year, on land that was row crops before. I don't know what kind we have but they bury lots of cow patties. They try to use the horse dung but don't do it as well. 

There could be fewer in people's pastures because of using chemical wormers. We haven't used any yet and hope to just stick to alternative wormers.


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Agman, I have the dung beetles here at Topside1...I have the little black ones about 1/2 inch long and the big black boys (one inch plus) that look like rhinos. The rhino types usually one or two per pattie. They make large holes about 4 inch away from the poo pile and carry their food to their dug dung hole. The little ones live directly under the pie.


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## cowkeeper (Feb 17, 2007)

Oohh, I've got tons of dung beetles here in Canada. They have those patties full of holes in no time  Interesting comment about chemical wormers, because I very seldom need to use them, and wonder if they do impact the beetles.
I wonder if they are allowed to cross the border . Would they need the CAN tattoo in one ear, along with the RFID tags and blood tests (LOL).


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

I spent a lot of time trying to find some dung beetles a year or two ago. I never did find any. I use Muscovy ducks to break up the manure patties.

I just recently heard that some wormers kill dung beetles.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## furholler (Feb 1, 2005)

I am interested in this thread as well. I attended a talk that Greg Judy gave last year and he mentioned that you can buy dung beetles, but he never did say where. They are a good gauge of your soil and land health. In other words, the more the merrier.


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

DH saw a dung beetle this AM!! It sounds silly, but I was thrilled. It means our place is coming back to life!


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## texklemer (Jul 7, 2008)

Here's a pretty interesting video on Dung Beetles. it's amazing how nature has it own little garbage men

http://www.24-7agtv.com/Joomla/index.php?option=com_seyret&task=videodirectlink&id=79&Itemid=1


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

http://www.insect-sale.com/shop/store.asp?Item=Scarabaeidae

$100 minimum order gets you 34 sets of 6 beetles (204 beetles) for $102 + $25 shipping = $127.

Then don't use Ivermectin to worm your cattle. Cydectin is better for dung beetles.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## Up North (Nov 29, 2005)

How can you tell if you have dung beetles on your property? What do the cow patties look like when the beetles are processing them? When we first moved to our farm a year ago I saw a pair rolling their little dung ball. I haven't seen any since then. I sure hope they are still around!

Heather


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

genebo, I believe those beetles are dried and mounted.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Up North, read this when the opportunity permits.
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/guidetoncdungbeetles.pdf


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## genebo (Sep 12, 2004)

Agmantoo,

Are you serious? Dried and mounted? Man, was I fooled.

Genebo
Paradise Farm


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

furholler
I am going to attempt to contact Greg Judy. I will reply here with his response.

Are you folks aware that with certain dung beetles the manure is placed in the ground while fresh enough that the nitrogen is not lost thus resulting on the need for less fertilizer?


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## translplant (Sep 27, 2005)

Agmantoo - If you get Greg Judy to respond that would be great! I love reading what he writes in the Stockman Grass Farmer and I hear he has a new book out.

Regarding dung beetles, we must have a ton of them because the manure piles have a zillion holes in them within a day or two. This mostly happens in the warmer months and we only used Cydectin to worm. 

During the cooler months I have a 4 x 6 ('ish) drag harrow that I attach to my ATV to spread the manure piles. The kids and their friends love this chore too, by the way. Aiming for the piles and gunning it makes chores fun!


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## ~Tomboy~ (Oct 13, 2005)

We have them here in Texas also.
As was mentioned in a previous post, Cydectin is the only wormer that I know of that won't harm the dung beetles.
I have a picture of a beetle rolling a ball that was taken on our property about four years ago, just can't figure out how to post it.
Hey Cloverbell, we do the same thing you do with our drag harrow & ATV


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## furholler (Feb 1, 2005)

agmantoo said:


> furholler
> I am going to attempt to contact Greg Judy. I will reply here with his response.
> 
> Are you folks aware that with certain dung beetles the manure is placed in the ground while fresh enough that the nitrogen is not lost thus resulting on the need for less fertilizer?


Great! I wait in anticipation. I haven't seen any this year at our place, yet, is it too early? Our chickens do a great job of spreading the manure, will that affect the beetle activity?


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## translplant (Sep 27, 2005)

I say whoever gets to the piles first (chickens, beetles, ducks) have at it! I would imagine the chicken and duck's motivation is the bugs they can peck out of there. 

Tomboy - do you find the tines up or down on your harrow work best? Sometimes I worry that the tines down is tearing up the field but down doesn't do the job well enough.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

From the reading that I have done I am aware that cattle wormers do negatively impact dung beetles. For Ivermectin products those wormers that are administered orally are the worse, pour on second and the injectable the least. Fly tags are also bad for the beetle population. I remain optimistic that I can reestablish dung beetles provided I can obtain a source for breeders. A 100 miles south of me are lots of the "rollers". I have some borers/burrowers. What I really want is some of the imported dung beetles that were established mostly in Texas. Texas is where the research was done in the '90s. The government ceased to support the program in I think 1998. This is what I kind of expect from a government that has little awareness of what it takes to on the farm to make things function. I did not tell you that I did contact an entomologist (government supported) seeking a source and his suggestion was for me to bury the waste. He hasn't got a clue!


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## translplant (Sep 27, 2005)

Agmantoo, the Cydectin brochure that I picked up last year had a whole page on dung beetles and their value to breaking down the manure piles. It was the reason we used that product last year. I don't know about the ear tags affecting the dung beetles though. Keeping the flies off their faces and out of their eyes may be a decent trade off.


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## jhambley (Nov 21, 2004)

This is a photo of a Dung Beetle rolling his Dung Ball. I snapped this photo while visiting a Hereford ranch in South Africa this Spring.










They actually roll the dung with their hind legs so they are always moving in reverse.

In the wildlife parks there are posted Dung Beetle Crossing signs. You MUST stop for any dung beetle crossing the road or pay a fine. The dung beetle plays a huge part in these parks where the elephants don't exactly clean up after themselves.











JH


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## ~Tomboy~ (Oct 13, 2005)

At this years Dexter meeting in Texas, one of our speakers was a rep from Fort Dodge (Wyeth) the manufactures of Cydectin. The handed out a 3 page pamphlet on dung beetles & Cydectin. I've used it 4 years now.
I also use ear fly tags I (rotate brands) and have not noticed the dung beetle population decreasing.
We have mostly the tunneling variety of dung beetle, but also have some rollers.

Transplant, we use the harrow with the tines down, what dirt we have is rock hard. In fact, if we don't drag when the piles are moist they don't break up at all.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

Furholler,
Greg was good enough to reply but his reply needs some deciphering. Here it is verbatim 


I copied Ralph Voss on your request below for finding a source for buying dung beetles. Ralph is an expert at dung beetle information.

Ralph wasn't there a professor that that did tons of research on dung beetles from North Carolina and developed their own dung beetle website?

Greg


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## furholler (Feb 1, 2005)

agmantoo said:


> Furholler,
> Greg was good enough to reply but his reply needs some deciphering. Here it is verbatim
> 
> 
> ...


Hmmm . I think what Mr. Judy was saying is that he sent a copy of your email off to Ralph Voss. Maybe you'll get a response soon?:shrug:


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## translplant (Sep 27, 2005)

Here is Tomboy's Texas dung beetle. Our Tennessee dung beetles aren't quite this large but, hey, that's Texas for you...always bigger!! :bow:


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2008)

We have them here.


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## ~Tomboy~ (Oct 13, 2005)

Thanks transplant for posting the pic.

It's interesting the difference in the dung they use, I guess they use what they have available.


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

This is one of the species, Onthophagus gazella, that I would certainly like to get established on my place


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Agman, how many of these beetles are you looking for? 20, 100?..I mainly have the small ones that live directly under the pattie. These guys also drill their food holes directly under the patty. Once they are finished with the manure all that is left is a dried out hollow dome type crust....they are about half the size of a penny....John


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

topside1
I do not know how to answer your question. From the people I have been contacting the responses are minimal. I do not know what it would take to restock the farm or to get a nucleus started. I do not know how to transport or even what time of year to attempt restocking. As more information drifts in I will continue to post here. Thanks for your reply! PS...have you been able to ID the type of dung beetle present at your place?


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

Geotrupidae (from Greek geos, earth, and trypetes, borer) is a family of beetles in the order Coleoptera. They are commonly called dor beetles or earth-boring dung beetles. Most excavate burrows in which to lay their eggs. They are typically detrivores, provisioning their nests with leaf litter (often moldy), but are occasionally coprophagous, similar to dung beetles. The eggs are laid in or upon the provision mass and buried, and the developing larvae feed upon the provisions. The burrows of some species can exceed 2 meters in depth.

A few species communicate by stridulation (rubbing body parts together to make sounds).


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## topside1 (Sep 23, 2005)

This describes my beetle to a Tee.
Another group are the âtunnelers.â An example of this group is Onthophagus gazella, which typically bury the dung balls under the manure pat or close to the edge. Piles of soil next to the dung pat are indicators of tunneler-type dung beetle activity. Collectively, tunnelers and tumblers are classified as ânestersâ because of their behavior in preparing a home for their young. The third group of beetles that use dung are the âdwellersâ. Most dwellers belong to the subfamily Aphodiidae. They live within the manure pat, engage in little to no digging, and generally do not form brood balls


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## agmantoo (May 23, 2003)

topside1
If you would please download and open this
http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/entomology/guidetoncdungbeetles.pdf
On pages 6 and 7 you will see some nice pics of dung beetles. The article is worth reading IMO. I am keenly interested in the Onthophagus gazella beetle. At this time I think I need 40 plus pairs. I have yet to determine the best manner to ship them. I figure UPS to be the carrier but the packaging needs to be where the beetles can breathe. Maybe I can get this info. I am willing to pay for the collecting and the S&H. We will give my solicitation for info a few more days and if nothing surfaces be thinking if you would be interested and what the charge would be. Thanks


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

I know this is an old thread but was wondering if anyone has had actual success in ordering dung beetles online. I can't find a source. All the sources mentioned here won't get back to me at all or don't have phone numbers, etc.


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## Dreamfarm (Dec 10, 2011)

I just found this. http://dungbeetles.biz/


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

I've contacted them repeatedly last year and earlier this year to no avail. Just not worth contacting them.


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