Love in the animal kingdom takes many strange and wonderful forms, but the dung beetle’s mating ritual stands out as one of the most bizarre and fascinating. Their behaviour is so unexpected that it’s almost unbelievable until you see it for yourself. This is one incredible story from nature that will change the way you think about romance forever.
Rolling Love Balls: Not Your Typical Date
Dung beetles have a unique approach to love: they roll balls of dung. Yes, you read that right — dung. But these aren’t just any piles of waste; they are carefully crafted love tokens.
Male dung beetles gather fresh dung and shape it into a perfect ball, which they then roll across the ground to a safe spot. This ball serves as both a food source and a place to impress females. The act of rolling requires strength and skill, which females watch closely — it’s like a display of fitness and determination.
If the male’s ball is too small or poorly made, the female might simply lose interest. So, these beetles invest real effort in their dung balls, turning an unpleasant task into a vital part of courtship.
The Real Estate Battle That Puts Reality TV to Shame
What I learned from spending hours observing these beetles is that their mating ritual isn’t just about romance — it’s about real estate. Once the female approves of the male’s dung ball craftsmanship, they team up to find the perfect spot to bury their treasure.
This is where things get seriously competitive. Other beetles will attempt highway robbery, trying to steal their precious cargo. Sometimes, the battle becomes so intense that males will fight physically, locking horns in miniature duels. The original couple has to defend their property while continuing to navigate toward their chosen burial site.
The teamwork required is incredible. The male pushes while the female steers, and they communicate through chemical signals I couldn’t detect but could see in action. When rivals approach, they coordinate their defense like a military operation.
The Underground Love Nest
Once they’ve successfully buried their dung ball, the real magic happens underground. The pair creates an elaborate burrow system that would impress any architect.
Inside this hidden chamber, the female lays her eggs, and the dung ball becomes both nursery and nourishment for the larvae when they hatch.
This cooperative effort between male and female is crucial. The male and female take turns guarding the nest and maintaining optimal conditions for their developing larva.
It’s not just a mating ritual but a shared commitment to ensuring their offspring have the best start in life. It’s teamwork that many larger animals could learn from.
The Astronomical Navigation System
This might sound like science fiction, but dung beetles are among the few insects that navigate using the Milky Way. During one clear night in the Kalahari, my guide demonstrated this phenomenon by covering a beetle with a small cloth, then removing it. The beetle would immediately reorient itself using the stars above.
This celestial navigation system is crucial during their mating ritual. When couples roll their dung ball to the burial site, they use the stars to maintain a straight line and avoid wasting energy on zigzag routes. It’s like having a built-in GPS that works better than most smartphone apps in remote African locations.
The Strength Olympics Champion
If dung beetles were humans, they’d be Olympic weightlifters. During my trip to Tanzania, I watched a beetle that couldn’t have been larger than my thumbnail pull a dung ball that was 50 times its body weight.
This superhuman strength plays a crucial role in their mating success. Females can judge a male’s fitness by how efficiently he can manipulate heavy dung balls. The stronger the male, the better provider he’ll be for their offspring.
What I Wish I Knew Before My First Dung Beetle Safari
After years of observing these remarkable creatures, here are my insider tips for witnessing this spectacle yourself:
Best Viewing Times:
- Early morning (6-8 AM), when fresh dung is available
- Late afternoon (4-6 PM) during the second wave of activity
- The rainy season offers the most dramatic displays
Essential Equipment:
- Magnifying glass for close-up observations
- Macro camera lens for photography
- Camp chair — you’ll want to settle in for the show
- Notebook to track behavior patterns
Prime Locations:
- Areas with large herbivore activity, like we noticed a lot of them in Isimangaliso Wetlands Park.
- Fresh dung piles (less than 2 hours old)
- Open savanna where you can observe rolling behavior
The patience required is similar to wildlife photography — sometimes you’ll wait hours for the perfect moment, but when it happens, it’s worth it.
Beyond the Gross Factor
Aside from the obvious “ew” factor, the dung beetle’s mating ritual is a perfect example of how nature turns even the least glamorous things into vital survival tools. These aren’t just insects mindlessly rolling poop around; they’re sophisticated creatures with complex behavioral patterns, navigation skills that would impress NASA, and relationship dynamics that many animals could learn from.
Their ecological role is equally impressive. A pair of dung beetles can bury a dung ball in just 60 minutes, enriching the soil and reducing greenhouse gas emissions from decomposing waste. They’re nature’s recycling champions, turning waste into fertility for the African landscape.
The Most Underrated Wildlife Experience in Africa
Understanding the dung beetle’s mating ritual gives us a deeper appreciation for nature’s creativity. It shows that every creature, no matter how small or seemingly odd, has evolved fascinating ways to survive and reproduce.
If you have any questions about observing dung beetles or want to share your encounters with Africa’s smaller wildlife, please leave them in the comments below! I’d love to hear about your experiences with these remarkable little creatures.
And make sure to follow me on my socials for more updates.
Sincerely,
Lizzy
I now have a YouTube channel as well!
YouTube
Hello Africa travellers!
Who am I? Well, the least you can say is that I am quite crazy about Africa, its nature, its climate, its culture, and more.
As a young woman in my twenties, I had already traveled to several African countries by traveling along in an overlander on my own and mostly camping ( or glamping ) and just fell in love with the diversity of it all.
So much, so that at the age of 26, I went back to university to study biology, which, unfortunately, I couldn’t finish because of health reasons (yes, I got sick from a tropical disease, oh cynicism). But this did not stop my dream of traveling back to Africa several times, and I still do.
My dream was back then to leave Europe and go study animal behavior, especially the elephants (sure, that’s every girl’s dream haha), but I am also very much intrigued by hyenas and other “ugly African animals“.
So, I “kind of” have a little bit of a scientific approach to my articles, when I write about African birds, for example. And most of all: the passion.
But life goes on, you move from one side of the country to the other, you get sick again and top it off with lower back problems, and before you know it, you are over 50 hahaha!
Now, I still travel to Africa, but take it a bit “easier” than the good old camping days, and stay in comfortable, yet affordable accommodations, together with my husband Wouter.
These are some of the countries I have traveled to: Kenya, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Tunisia, and a little bit of Lesotho LOL .
While clearly not being African territory, but Spanish, I also visited Gran Canaria and Tenerife, and location-wise, I consider them “African”, because of their climate and nature, sue me :-p
The last trip I took was to South Africa in the year 2023, and it sure got the fevers for Africa back! From the Barberton mountains to the Drakensberg and the Southcoast, one month wasn’t enough at all to see the whole country, so we’ll be back! At ease and with a little bit more luxury than in my younger days haha!
I wish you happy travels!
Kind regards
Lizzy
