The nymph also preys upon other animals, including plant lice. The male and female roll a ball of animal dung across the prairie floor. After the dung is pressed and round, the adults dig a tunnel in the soil and drag the ball of dung into it. The female then lays an egg on the dung. The larva hatches later and feeds on the dung until it develops into an adult.
Insects exist on the prairie in many forms.
They all begin as immature nymphs or larva. Nymphs look like smaller versions of their parents until they undergo a series of molts to reach their adult size-incomplete metamorphosis. Larvae look nothing like their parents. They molt but then rest as a pupa, often in a cocoon, until they emerge as an adult-metamorphosis. The prairie ecosystem could not exist without the important work insects do.