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Article: The clean machines: dung beetles at work.
- Article from:
- The Evening Standard (London, England)
- Article date:
- March 1, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Carus Publishing Co. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
Poop tends to accumulate. Getting rid of it so our planet won't reek has always been a problem for humans, their dogs, and even birds and bugs.
But one insect--the dung beetle--is a bug with a mission. It eats the dung of almost every animal in the world, except its own! That's because it can't be bothered eating something the size of a grain of sand.
If you live where there are cows or horses, go outside, put on some gloves, use a shovel to move aside a dung pile and look underneath. You are likely to see some dung beetle tunnels, and may even get to watch these efficient little creatures at work. You'll notice that they ...