You could say they’ve got a s…ty life, but dung beetles like these ones (probably a Kepher sp.) are happy with that! Dung, especially that of herbivores like elephants and rhinos, is a still highly valuable source of energy for both the adult beetles and, such as in this case, for their future larvae. This couple (male rolling the ball, female holding tight to it) is about to bury this big “take away food” and deposit an egg on it. The larva will have a fresh pile of…food and it will eventually pupate inside it, protected underground. And remember, as someone once said: “if we didn’t have dung beetles, Africa would have been covered by s…t in less than a decade”! :-) maybe a little bit exaggerated, but surely truthful in its message! Shot with Nikon Z9, Nikon 8-15mm fisheye, Godox mf12 flash. 1/30 sec, iso 1000, f/16 #dung #dungbeetle #insect #nature #southafrica #wideanglemacro #conservation #picoftheday @ilcp_photographers @nikonitalia @nikoneurope @godox_global @ivorywilderness (at Klaserie Private Game Reserve) https://www.instagram.com/p/CnRyszBqzA-/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=
