What is it? #3 revealed

photo: Kate Pressland

It's a dor beetle! Were you right? Although it looks quite chunky it does actually fly quite successfully. Dor is an old word for drone and it does actually make quite a loud noise as it flies around, considering the size of it.

The dor beetle is one of our largest dung beetles so have you worked out what it eats yet? Yes, that's right,they eat poo or 'dung'. The adults and larvae eat their own weight in dung every day. This might sound revolting but they actually do a great job of cleaning up the countryside for us.

Mating pairs work together to find a nice juicy cowpat, usually at night. The female then digs a hole underneath it and makes small chambers off to the sides. She lays an egg in each chamber and when the egg hatches the larva has enough dung to eat for a few months.When larva is big enough it pupates underground and emerges the following year as an adult. What a life!