Spider dung beetles

Description:

Identification: Small to medium (body length 3-12 mm), dull black, dark grey or brown. Pronotum and elytra covered with hairs, varying in thickness and colour (black, reddish brown or yellow), sometimes arranged in tufts. Hind legs very long, due to elongate femora and tibiae.

Habitat:

Savanna, bushveld and forest

Notes:

Biology: Adults congregate to feed on fresh dung, especially of small mammals, but also of tortoises, toads, birds and, uniquely, large carnivores. They form balls of dung for breeding and roll them away to be buried up to 50 mm below surface. A single egg is laid in the brood ball in a nest prepared for it. Some species leave the brood ball on the ground or attached to grass stems or twigs.