January 17, 2019 - Two individuals fighting over a ball of dung sounds like a metaphor for a bad love triangle. But for dung beetles, it’s survival. Dung is a valuable resource, used as food and as a nursery for beetle babies. Each beetle is trying to throw the other off-balance. When one beetle is thrown off, balance it becomes vulnerable to injury because its wings are exposed. One species, the bull-headed dung beetle, has astounding strength for its size. They can pull up to 1,141 times their own weight. After each beetle takes a turn in control of the dung, one eventually concedes and scampers off.

Watch this beetle go from larvae to giant. The Hercules beetle is one of the largest flying insects in the world. As an adult, male Hercules beetles can stretch up to 18cm long including their horns.