We're not so productive. Within minutes or even seconds, the beetles are already burrowing into the warm dung. Within hours, or at the very most, a few days, the cow pat has vanished. All that is left is freshly turned-over soil. Scientists have counted more than 7,000 dung beetles in a single mass of fresh elephant dung.
Most dung beetles make tunnels in the soil.
They shape the cattle dung into small balls, and carry it down into the tunnels. The female lays eggs in the dung balls. But some dung beetles carve off pieces of dung and make them into smooth balls. They roll these balls for many metres before they bury them. Again, the female lays eggs in the dung.