and supporting the grasses on which the animals

depend for food.

When Europeans brought animals such as

sheep and cattle to Australia, the dung ecosystem

there was unbalanced, because although the

settlers accidentally brought some species of flies,

they did not think to bring any dung beetles. It

was soon found that the Australian dung beetles,

adapted to the smaller, drier droppings of

marsupials, were not interested in the huge

deposits made by the larger imported animals,

and so the cattle and sheep dung lay and dried on

the pastures, covering the grass and breeding flies.

In the end, the only way to make cattle and sheep

agriculture sustainable in Australia was for the

government to employ entomologists to select,

breed, and release masses of dung beetles that

were specialized for the dung of the imported

ruminants. This became a famous example

of successful biological control, and saved the

Australian cattle and sheep industries. It also

showed the importance of insects in ecology,

which may not always be recognized until they

are not there.

above | Pachylomera  femoralis

(Scarabaeidae) A mass of beetles compete

for a dung pile. They start arriving while

it is still warm, and may clear it away

before it has cooled. 

below | Canthon quadriguttatus

(Scarabaeidae) In the rainforests of

Peru, some adult dung beetles cling to

the undersides of brown titi monkeys,

so they can beat the competition when

substrate emerges.