This creepy-crawly is endemic to a few areas of South Africa and includes the Addo Elephant National park. The flightless dung beetle must walk from dung dropping to dung dropping for feeding and collecting the dung they need for building their dung balls. With a length of 22 to 47 mm this beetle plays a very important role in the eco system of the Addo Elephant National Park. Join us to find out more about this precious bug on your South Africa Tour.
Unfortunately as the elephants, rhino and buffalo became regionally extinct, the beetle became regionally restricted to the Addo Elephant National Park where smaller herds of elephant and buffalo survive.
The flightless dung beetles enjoy feasting on fresh dung droppings from large mammals.
They prefer the more coarse dung of the elephant, rhino and buffalo. The adult flightless dung beetle feed on the fluid part of the dung while the larvae feed on the fluid and fibre. They can detect dung from a distance by their strong sense of smell and do not require any other food source. No, not even water! The dung provides all the necessary nutrients.
Yes I know it sounds like a very graphic picture I am painting but you will have to read on to discover why your safari with us would be a unique and unforgettable South African Tourism experience.
The female flightless dung beetle uses the dung for building a brood ball. She then moves it away using her powerful hind legs while the male follows along behind her. Talk about being a real gentleman! The female will bury the ball at a suitable spot with the male on top. The mating process takes place under ground and a single egg is laid within the ball. The female stays with the ball until the juvenile stage of her young is completed. The larva spends 3 to 4 months as a pupa before it emerges as an immature adult. The larva feeds on the dung ball from the inside.
While all this is happening underground, at the same time the soil gets fertilized by the dung underground, providing perfect nutrients for vegetation to grow in. And nature’s life cycle starts all over again! And you thought that safaris are only about seeing the Big 7. We, Imvelaphi Safaris even look at the smaller things in life! This is what distinguishes us from the rest.
With Imvelaphi Safaris you will always experience the unexpected! We are adventurous by nature!