Food Chain

What Eats Poop?

What Eats Poop? A Dung Beetle Does.
A Dung Beetle Rolling A Ball Of Poop. Photo:Sten Porse

What eats poop?

You probably have already noticed that flies like poop. They like to lay their eggs on it. That’s because poops—also called “dung” or “feces”—is nothing more than digested food that has passed through an animal. It still contains enough nutrition to feed the baby flies—also called “larvae,” or “maggots”—after they hatch.

Other animals, including some dogs, also eat poop. No one knows exactly why dogs eat poops, but some veterinarians think they do this when they are bored, or when they are not getting enough of the right kind of food.

But the world’s most famous poops-eater is the dung beetle. There are many different species, or types, of dung beetles, and they all eat poops. Dung beetles like to make big balls out of poop. Then, using their hind legs, they roll these balls of poop back to their underground burrows, where they store the poop to snack on it at a later time.




Gordon Ramel

Gordon is an ecologist with two degrees from Exeter University. He's also a teacher, a poet and the owner of 1,152 books. Oh - and he wrote this website.
Check Also
Close
Back to top button