The Dung Beetle - The making of an African Oyster !
The Dung Beetle will gather the Dung of herbivores and roll it off into a hole. It will lay it's egg in the dung. When the egg hatches, the larva eats the dung from the inside out, hollowing the dung ball from the center. It then pupates and emerges as a beetle.
Sometimes as the dung ball is being rolled around by the beetle, it picks up mud or dirt which cakes itself to the outside of the ball. This mud dries and hardens - and this is called an African Oyster.
Animals, like the Honey Badger love these and break them open to eat the growing larva inside.
The Dung Beetle pushes the dung ball around by standing on it's front legs and pushing the ball backwards.
These photos were taken in the Pilanesberg National Park in South Africa