? Scarab beetles
A dung beetle busy rolling its ball of dung
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Class: Insecta Order: Coleoptera Family: Scarabaeidae Latreille, 1802
Genera
not a complete list Agestrata Anoplognathus Augosoma Canthon Chrysina Chalcosoma Chelorrhina Cheirolasia Cheirotonus Cotinis Dynastes Eudicella Goliathus Megsoma Onthophagus Pachnoda Phanaeus Plusiotis Ranzania Rhomborrhina Stephanorrhina Xylotrupes

The scarab is a type of beetle noted for rolling dung into spherical balls and pushing it, as well as its habit of laying its eggs in animal dung. Because most of the scarab species work with dung they are commonly referred to as dung beetles. This is a file from the Wikimedia Commons, a repository of free content hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation. ... Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Phyla Porifera (sponges) Ctenophora (comb jellies) Cnidaria (coral, jellyfish, anemones) Placozoa (trichoplax) Subregnum Bilateria (bilateral symmetry) Acoelomorpha (basal) Orthonectida (parasitic to flatworms, echinoderms, etc. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders, scorpions, etc. ... Classes & Orders Subclass:Apterygota Orders Archaeognatha (Bristletails) Thysanura (Silverfish) Monura - extinct Subclass:Pterygota Infraclass: Paleoptera (paraphyletic) Orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Diaphanopterodea - extinct Protodonata - extinct Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass: Neoptera Superorder: Exopterygota Orders Caloneroptera - extinct Titanoptera - extinct Protorthoptera - extinct Grylloblattodea (ice-crawlers) Mantophasmatodea (gladiators) Plecoptera... Suborders Adephaga Archostemata Myxophaga Polyphaga See subgroups of the order Coleoptera Beetles are one of the main groups of insects. ... Pierre André Latreille. ... Binomial name Anoplognathus pallidicollis Blanchard, 1851 The Christmas beetle, Anoplognathus pallidicollis, is a relatively large beetle of the family Scarabaeidae, native to Australia. ... Species Goliathus albosignatus Goliathus cacicus Goliathus goliatus Goliathus orientalis Goliathus regius The goliath beetles are the largest insects on Earth. ... Species Rhomborrhina formosana Rhomborrhina japonica Rhomborrhina mellyi Rhomborrhina resplendens Rhomborrhina are a genus of large scarab beetles. ... Suborders Adephaga Archostemata Myxophaga Polyphaga See subgroups of the order Coleoptera Beetles are one of the main groups of insects. ... Dung can refer to: a synonym of manure (natural fertilizer consisting of animal feces) or the human equivalent Dung, Doubs, a commune in the Doubs département of France The McGillicuddy Serious Party of New Zealand campaigned on a policy of Free Dung, it is not immediately clear which Dung...

The dung beetles are classified as family Scarabaeidae, which includes over 26,000 species in numerous genera, including the African genus Goliathus, among the largest and heaviest of the beetles. Dung beetles live in many different habitats, including desert, farmland, forest, and grasslands. They do not like extremely cold or dry weather. They occur on all continents except Antarctica. In biology, a genus (plural genera) is a grouping in the classification of living organisms having one or more related and morphologically similar species. ... A satellite composite image of Africa Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. ... Species Goliathus albosignatus Goliathus cacicus Goliathus goliatus Goliathus orientalis Goliathus regius The goliath beetles are the largest insects on Earth. ... A dune in the Egyptian desert In geography, a desert is a landscape form or region that receives little precipitation - less than 250 mm (10 in) per year. ... Bales of hay on a farm near Ames, Iowa A farm is the basic unit in agriculture. ... FOREST, which describes itself as the voice and friend of the smoker, is a United Kingdom political pressure group that campaigns for the right of people to smoke tobacco and opposes attempts to ban or reduce tobacco consumption, as well as casting doubt on medical claims of the health risks... An Inner Mongolian Grassland. ...

The majority of the dung beetle diet is dung. They will eat dung from a variety of animals as long as the animal is herbivorous. Dung beetles also feed on mushrooms, leaves, and decaying matter. Dung beetles do not need to eat anything else because the dung provides all the nutrients; they do not even need to drink water. The larvae feeds on the undigested plant fiber in the dung, while the adults don't eat solid food at all. Instead they are using their mouthparts to squeeze and suck the juice from the manure, a liquid full of microorganisms and other nutrients (as well as the body fluids from some unlucky animals like dung feeding fly maggots who sometimes gets trapped between their mandibles). In zoology, an herbivore is an animal that is adapted to eat primarily plants (rather than meat). ... Basidiocarps (mushrooms) of the fungus Leucocoprinus sp. ... Rotting fruit Decomposition is the reduction of bodies and other formerly living organisms into simpler forms of matter and, most particularly, to the fate of the human body after death. ...

The dung beetle body consists of head, abdomen, and thorax. They have legs, located on the thorax, that are specialized for shoveling dung and rolling it along. The abdomen is a part of the body. ... Diagram of a tsetse fly, showing the head, thorax and abdomen The thorax is a division of an animals body that lies between the head and the abdomen. ...

The dung beetle has complete metamorphosis. The female will lay an egg in a dung ball which will then be buried to protect it from erosion and predators. During the larval stage the dung beetle will feed on the dung surrounding it. Metamorphosis is a process in biology by which an individual physically develops after birth or hatching, and involves significant change in form as well as growth and differentiation. ... A larva (Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of animal with indirect development, undergoing metamorphosis (for example, insects or amphibians). ...

The Scarabs of Ancient Egypt

The distinctive behavior of the scarab beetle — rolling of dung balls, skill in digging, and its hidden metamorphosis from grub to winged adult — inspired ancient Egyptians to use its image to represent concepts of change and rebirth.

The hieroglyphic image of the scarab is believed to represent a trilateral phonetic that Egyptologists transliterate as xpr or ḫpr and translate as “come into being”, “become” or “transform”. The derivative term xprw or ḫpr(w) is variously translated as “form”, “transformation”, “happening”, “mode of being” or “what has come into being” depending on context; it may have existential, fictional, or ontologic significance. For the ancient Egyptians the divine form or archetypal image of the concept was Khepri, xprr or Ḫprr, “he who has come into being”. Hieroglyphs on an Egyptian funerary stela Hieroglyphs at the Memphis museum with Ramses II statue on the back. ... Khepri as a scarab beetle, pushing the sun across the sky In Egyptian mythology, Khepri (also spelt Khepera, Kheper, Chepri, Khepra) is the name of a minor god. ...

The image of the scarab, encoding ideas of transformation, renewal, and resurrection, is ubiquitous in ancient Egyptian religious and funerary art.

Excavations of ancient Egyptian sites have yielded images of the scarab beetle in bone, ivory, stone, Egyptian faience, and precious metals, dating from the Sixth Dynasty through Roman rule. They are generally small items, bored to allow stringing on a necklace, and the base bears a brief inscription or cartouche. Some have been used as seals. Pharaohs sometimes commissioned the manufacture of larger images with lengthy inscriptions, such as the commemorative scarab of Queen Tiye. Massive sculptures of scarabs can be seen at Luxor Temple, at the Serapeum in Alexandria (see Serapis) and elsewhere in Egypt. Tiy (c. ... Luxor Temple, from the east bank of the Nile Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes). ... Serapis can refer to: A series of British ships named HMS Serapis. ...

Many authors state that the ancient Egyptians believed the sun was rolled across the sky by a scarab, and the dawning sun was often depicted in the form of Khepri. Some New Kingdom royal tombs exhibit a threefold image of the sun god, using the scarab as symbol of the morning sun. The astronomical ceiling in the tomb of Ramses VI portrays the nightly ‘death’ and ‘rebirth’ of the sun as being swallowed by Nuit, goddess of night, and re-emerging from her womb as Khepri. In the Ennead mythology, Nuit (alternatively spelt Nut) was the sky goddess, in contrast to most other mythologies, which usually have a sky father. ...

The scarab was of prime significance in the funerary cult. Scarabs, generally though not always cut from green stone, were placed on the chest of the deceased. Perhaps the most famous example of such 'heart scarabs' is the yellow-green pectoral scarab found among the grave goods of Tutankhamen, carved from a large piece of Libyan desert glass. The purpose of the 'heart scarab' was to ensure that the heart would not bear witness against the deceased at judgement in the Afterlife. Other possibilities are suggested by the "transformation spells" of the Coffin Texts, which affirm that the soul of the deceased may transform (xpr) into the semblance of a human being, a god, or a bird and reappear in the world of the living. Tutankhamun (alternate transcription Tutankhamen), named Tutankhaten early in his life, was Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt (1334 BC/1333 BC - 1323 BC), during the period known as the New Kingdom. ... Libyan Desert Glass Desert Glass, Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) or Edeowie Glass is found in large (tens of KM) regions of sandy deserts in the Libyan Desert, Africa, and in South Australia. ...

One scholar comments on other traits of the scarab connected with the theme of death and rebirth: “It may not have gone unnoticed that the pupa, whose wings and legs are encased at this stage of development, is very mummy-like. It has even been pointed out that the egg-bearing ball of dung is created in an underground chamber which is reached by a vertical shaft and horizontal passage curiously reminiscent of Old Kingdom mastaba tombs.” (Andrews, Amulets of Ancient Egypt, p. 51.)

The scarab remains an item of popular interest thanks to modern fascination with the art and beliefs of ancient Egypt. Scarab beads in semiprecious stones or glazed ceramics can be purchased at most bead shops, while at Luxor Temple a massive ancient scarab has been roped off to discourage visitors from rubbing the base of the statue “for luck”. Ancient Egypt was a civilization located along the Lower Nile, reaching from the Nile Delta in the north to as far south as Jebel Barkal at the time of its greatest extension (15th century BC). ... Luxor Temple, from the east bank of the Nile Luxor Temple is a large Ancient Egyptian temple complex located on the east bank of the River Nile in the city today known as Luxor (ancient Thebes). ...

References

• Carol Andrews. Amulets of Ancient Egypt. University of Texas Press, 1994. ISBN 0-292-70464-X.
• Hannes Buchberger. Transformation und Transformat. Sargtextstudien I, Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag, 1993. ISBN 3-447-03078-X.
• Jean Henri Fabre, The Sacred Beetle in The Sacred Beetle and Other Great Essays in Science, (Prometheus Books, 1981), [ISBN 0879751444]
• Raymond O. Faulkner. A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian. Oxford: Griffith Institute, 2002. ISBN 0-900416-32-7.
• L.J. Miline and M. Miline, Insect Worlds: A Guide for Man on Making the Most of His Environment (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1980)
• John H. Taylor (2004). Mummy: The inside story, The British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-1962-8.
• Richard H. Wilkinson. Symbol & Magic in Egyptian Art. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd., 1994. ISBN 0-500-23663-1.

Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre (December 22, 1823 - October 11, 1915) was a French entomologist and author. ... The main entrance to the British Museum The British Museum in London is the United Kingdoms - and one of the worlds - largest and most important museums of human history and culture. ...

External links

• Dung beetles – biology and life cycles
• Dung Beetle Mania

Gallery

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Category:Scarabaeidae

Chalcosoma atlas

A scarab beetle, depicted on the walls of Tomb KV6 in the Valley of the Kings

A carved steatite scarab amulet - circa 550 BC.