The Addo Flightless Dung Beetle species of dung beetle is endemic to a few areas of South Africa and is a member of the families Bolboceratidae and Scarabaeidae which cannot fly. This scarab beetle was once widespread throughout South Africa but is now limited to a few pockets of populations, the largest being at Addo Elephant Park in the Eastern Cape Province. This dung beetle is most common in the main game area of the Addo Elephant National Park, but the dung beetle does occurs in the rest of the Greater Addo National Park.
The Addo Flightless Dung Beetle is a very large, metallic black coloured insect with a body length of about 30 mm and 50 mm. This Addo insect has a shiny globular rounded outline and a large pronotum and abdomen.
About The Addo Flightless Dung Beetle:
The Addo Flightless Dung Beetle adults gather at African Elephant dung for feeding and at Cape Buffalo dung for feeding and breeding. The remarkable dung beetles shape the dung into large round balls, which are then rolled away to be buried. The dung beetles only have one nesting sequence a year and in this time period they produce only one young beetle. Their conservation status is vulnerable as they depend on 2 large herbivores for survival: Elephant and Buffalo.
Addo Dung Beetle Breeding
Addo Dung Beetles prefer Buffalo Dung for breeding. Females dung beetles produce only one off-spring per breeding cycle, usually one but sometimes two per year so fecundity is therefore low. When breeding, the female removes a portion of dung from the pile, pats it onto a ball and rolls it away, from 7 to 80m, depending on when she finds a suitable site. Unlike other dung beetles, the male trails her by a few centimetres and does not help roll the ball. When the ideal site is decided on, the female excavates the hole and the male then positions himself on top of the dung ball and sinks down with it, the depth varying from 17 to 37 cm. Mating then takes place and the egg is deposited. The male returns to the surface and the female remains with her brood throughout the early (larval) development. This is critical for the survival of the larva as she constantly clears away fungus that develops on the outside of the dung ball. The development time from egg to adult ranges from 120 to 140 days. The young adult then feeds for another 50 to 65 days before becoming sexually mature.
Interesting Information On The Addo Dung Beetle:
The Addo Flightless Dung Beetle only occurs in the Eastern Cape Province in a small patch, however it is fairly common within it’s range. This terrestrial invertebrate occurs in habitats such as… scrub and Spekboomveld. They often congregate in 100′s in the Addo Elephant National Park, this is the best place to see these special beetles.
THE ADDO DUNG BEETLE has right of way!!! Please be careful travelling around the Addo Elephant National Park and surrounds…
