Thread by @SmallholdersUK

So to introduce myself properly I’m an entomologist/ecologist interested in the biodiversity around pasture grazing livestock both above & below ground but especially in the dung. A farmers daughter & wife I graze 100 acres based around my research, run an education centre & more

To put no finer point on it there is a high chance of a lot of dung being on this account this week. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s something we just can’t get away from & if you have livestock it’s time to get down on your knees & discover a whole new world in that poo

I want you to think of a field as the habitat & that single dung pat as a micro habitat. It’s where the freshly produced dung has landed that the dung beetles can thrive, on bare soil or on grass. Muck heaps change the temp & consistency making it an unsuitable habitat

Let’s have a good look at some dung now so you can get to know what’s a good micro habitat & what’s not. We’ll start with the bad - the sloppy, splattered & flat. Unwell/stressed animals or those with a high water intake /or on fresh lush grass produce runny dung

The splatter is often too wet & beetles can drown in it. It then dries out too quickly becoming hard & unsuitable. It has no depth in which to live & makes the beetles easy prey for probing birds etc. It’s often a series of splats too with a limited amount of food available

For those of you just joining in I’m Sally-Ann Spence @minibeastmayhem a researcher & co-founder of DUMP (Dung beetle UK Mapping Project) an Honorary Associate at @morethanadodo, fellow of @RoyEntSoc & @LinneanSociety, livestock farmer, a #scicomm person & general bug botherer

There’s a huge range in the quality of dung as a micro habitat for dung beetles. This is middle of the range - a pat with some depth. Not too wet but still not perfect. It’s certainly habitable offering protection & plenty of food for the beetles. I’d give it a 6 out of 10

I know you’ve been on the edge of your seats to discover what counts as a 10 out of 10 pile of dung for dung beetles. Well ladies & gentlemen the wait is over, this is it! The perfect poo - a tower of utter beauty. It’s well formed, has plenty of depth, the correct consistency...

The ridges/folds make access easy for the dung beetles & there’s plenty of organic matter for the adults & ultimately their larvae to feed on. You get different species at different times of the year (all year round) feeding during the different stages in the dung’s decomposition

So what about all those holes you see. You’ve definitely got dung beetles right? Not necessarily. Many other insects live in dung & although they might be eating fly eggs & larvae (maggots) which keeps those population numbers down they aren’t actually eating & recycling that poo

I must add that when it comes to flies they are one of our biggest pollinatior groups & many perform other ecosystem services too. These yellow dung flies breed in dung but the adults mainly prey on smaller insects particularly other species of flies

So what other beetles might you come across whilst poking around in dung? Alongside the water scavenger beetles (Hydrophilidae) we saw earlier, you can find other predator beetles such as the rove beetles (Staphylinidae).
*sound on for the videos please*

Now let’s compare one of our coprophagous dung beetles to the two predatory beetles in this thread. This dung beetle is an aphodiines, the most numerous group of dung beetle species in the UK (will talk more about the dung beetles themselves tomorrow)
*sound on again please*

So these dung beetles can be tiny yes? Well yes some species are but they can also be quite large with some species of Geotrupidae (the Dor beetles) reaching a whopping 26mm. At that size they can rapidly remove & recycle those pats
*sound on please*

It’s not just about recycling the dung & releasing those precious nutrients, there’s some other really important things going on too.
(More about these ecosystem services tomorrow).
*with some advice on finding your beetle if you want to identify the species - sound on please*

I’ve been focusing on dung as a micro habitat for the adult beetles but it’s also important for their larvae. In the UK our dung beetles either breed directly under the dung or in it as there isn’t the resource competition to encourage any to make balls & roll it away to hide it

I’m going to sign off now & leave you with just the cutest larvae all snuggled up but I will be back tomorrow to talk more about the dung beetles themselves & hopefully answer all your questions 💩#DungIsFun