Scarabs — the way they Roll

These creatures are quite interesting, and some people even specialize in studying them. Scarab seems kind of formal, and the common name is dung beetle. This is a good time to wonder if the Creator was showing his sense of humor, as these beetles were designed to use dung for survival.

The scarab was sacred to the ancient Egyptians. One reason is that they symbolized death and rebirth, and part of that was because their sun god supposedly rolled the sun across the heavens each day. Seems kind of inefficient.

Dung beetles having a ball, Pixabay / debbiedejager

Dung beetles need great balls of poo to survive, so they confiscate it in an unusual way: going backward. They do not have their eyes on the prize, but rather the other end, pushing it with their back legs. Amazingly, they know where they're going. Not all scarabs navigate by the light of day, either. Darwin's disciples try to evosplain the behavior, but fail.

Dung beetles are dependent upon animal manure for their existence. Some bury the waste near to the source location as a food store, while others form the dung into small balls and then roll the spheres away, amazingly navigating in a broadly straight line. The dung is then buried in the ground to hide it from competitors.

To read the rest, dig into "The amazing navigation skills of the dung beetle."