Sward Wardens: the incredible role of dung beetles
By Kerry Williams
Communications Officer - Conservation
There’s a subject we’re not great at talking about in the UK; poo. However, there’s a group of creatures that are far more celebratory of the topic, with their diet testament to their appreciation. Aptly named, dung beetles eat poo. And they are amazing.
You are likely to conjure the image of Heliocopris, giant dung beetle species which reside in Africa and Asia, manoeuvring huge droppings kindly deposited by some of the Earth's spectacular megafauna. Although these beetles don’t match the size of the one that rolled a football into the 2010 World Cup opening ceremony, they are hefty for a beetle, reaching lengths of up to 7cm.
Our dung beetles are more diminutive, but no less vital. The UK is home to around 60 species, which are split into three groups: Aphodiines, or the ‘dwellers’, sized 3-13mm who live directly in dung, Onthophagus, at 4-11mm; ‘tunnellers’ who tunnel up to a metre below the dung, pulling down small amounts to lay their eggs in, and the largest ‘tunnellers’ at 8-26mm, the Geotrupes.
Mostly, they consume dung of herbivores and omnivores. The ultimate recyclers, dung beetles are ecosystem engineers, meaning they modify their environment to provide services to other species with whom they share the ecosystem. In the case of dung beetles, this is a poop removal service. Not only do they improve grazing pasture by clearing grasslands of waste, but they also recycle vital nutrients, keeping soil healthy. Tunnelling aerates the soil and prevents compaction, which in turn mitigates against flooding.
Whilst this waste processing keeps down the population of flies, the beetles also remove parasites living in the dung. The beetles are, in turn, prey to others, such as birds, bats and Hedgehogs. It’s all rather harmonious and, as nature does best, it’s a perfectly symbiotic relationship. In fact, research suggests that conservation of dung beetles could save the UK cattle industry up to £40 million a year. They’re more than just a bunch of poop-munchers.
Yet, like most of our native wildlife, dung beetles are in trouble. A study by Natural England saw 50% of our dung beetles are classed as nationally scarce or threatened in conservation terms. Largely this is due to modifications in agricultural practices; changes in land-use and an increase of pesticides, whether this be directly onto fields or via livestock ingested worming medicines. These chemicals disrupt the brilliantly balanced natural process, especially when used at scale and preventatively. Landowners can support dung beetle populations by reducing pesticides; more dung beetles mean fewer parasites, so by protecting these species a free service is being retained.
We owe a lot to our dung beetles and must protect them. They’re a critical part of our ecosystem, yet many of us don’t know they exist here or appreciate their unglamorous and thankless work. To be frank, without them we would be up to our knees in poo. Metaphorically and literally.
Comments
When I was physically unable to clear the back path to my house of fallen Ash leaves, one of my cats used it as a loo. I was delighted when dung beetles appeared as if from nowhere.
08 May 2025 10:53:00
Not only are they so useful but these beetles are also beautiful with their blue or purple iridescent colouring. They look like living jewels as they trundle along in the sunshine.
08 May 2025 13:06:00
I wish to support Sussex wildlife trustbin their work to protect dung beetles.
08 May 2025 14:44:00
Please save the dung beetles, they fo such an important job!
08 May 2025 15:07:00
I didn’t realise we had dung beetles in the Uk.
So many thanks for the information.
08 May 2025 15:26:00
We only use wormer on our horses if the sample count comes back as ‘high burden’
08 May 2025 15:43:00
I’d LOVE dung beetles! I’ve had horses at home for 6 years with no pesticides but no helpful beetles have shown up. How can we attract them?
08 May 2025 16:13:00
I live in a city and assume, may be wrongly, that dung beetles only inhabit the countryside. I remember seeing them as a child in the fields. I could do with some dung beetles to remove the neighbours cat poo!!
09 May 2025 07:58:00
Seen dung beetles in the past but not recently. Never knew how important they were for the health of other creatures including ourselves.Also the importance for the soil. Lovely to see the photo of our Sussex cattle.
10 May 2025 08:11:00
One of the many joys of switching to genuine regenerative principles on my farm is seeing the dung beetles working away on my Sussex cattle dung pats and as another comment said they are like tiny jewels moving in and out of their dung home!
10 May 2025 19:17:00
We have had dung beetles here on the farm for the last 28 years, they appear either in our old sand school, under the pony poo, or on the mown paths and in our ancient woodland. The species we have is Typhaeus Typhaeus, the male is resplendent with three horns!
12 May 2025 10:05:00
Dung beetles appear to be the nature’s ‘digestive and elimination system’. Such amazing creatures. However, I fear that until we change our ‘economic model’, their numbers will continue to decrease, as with all wildlife; they are at the mercy of humankind. The government is only interested in increasing growth, but are so short-sighted, as highlighted by the savings that can be achieved, if we work in harmony with nature and wildlife. Extending this further, human health would improve, with less impact on health services. It all adds up.
14 May 2025 07:25:00
I love this article about the hugely underestimated dung beetle. I often find them in my dog’s poo in my garden when I’ve been a bit slow at clearing up. We so often forget that without the many tiny creatures that quietly go about their business, doing what they need to do, our human-dominated world just wouldn’t thrive – or even survive. A while ago, when writing a collection of fun but factual/educational limericks for children about the natural world, I wrote one about dung beetles, which I share below and which I hope might amuse! (I’ve written about other animals too – owls, bees, crabs etc – but I think this one is my favourite!):
“There was a dung beetle called Pru
Whose job was to eat others’ poo.
A horrible feast!
But the work of this beast
Means our world isn’t covered in goo! “
23 May 2025 10:40:00