Home » Education & Career » Science for Kids » Waste Not - Want Not

Waste Not - Want Not

© Debbie St. Germain

Did you know that there are more beetles in the world than any other kind of animal? There are over 300,000 species of beetles, or you could say that one out of every four animals is a beetle.

Beetles come from the order of Coleoptera, which means "sheath-winged." Beetles have two pairs of wings, but the first pair is enlarged and thickened into a hard pair of sheaths that cover their delicate hind wings.

Just as there are many types of beetles, there are many types of defenses and lifestyles among beetles. Today we are talking about two beetles that have something in common: they use feces to survive. The difference is that one uses it for defense and the other as a way to produce and feed their young.

This week, researchers at Cornell University have been studying a beetle that has a strange way of camouflaging itself. The larvae of the tortoise beetle defend themselves against hungry predators by building a shield of feces around themselves. Tortoise beetles are so named because they are shaped just like a small tortoise or turtle.

It sounds disgusting, and to most predators it is -- they pass by the larva without touching it -- so the larva is safe until it is fully grown. The tortoise beetle excretes golden strands of feces and then fashions it into a thatched shield to protect its vulnerable body. I guess you could say this beetle has its own way of recycling that aids in its survival.

Besides protecting them from most predators, the fecal matter offers the larvae protection from drying out by keeping them out of the sun and keeping moisture in.

The strange camouflage of the tortoise beetle keeps most predators away: but one beetle, the carabid beetle, doesn't seem to have a problem digging through the feces to get at the tasty meal inside.

Another beetle, the dung beetle, has a similar recycling system with wastes, but it doesn't use its own: it uses the waste of other animals. As gross as that sounds, the beetle's behavior actually helps humans and the environment. Without this efficient waste disposer, the world would be piled high with animal wastes.

Dung beetles got their name because they love dung. They love rolling it and they love eating it! Dung beetles help the ecology in many ways by using the waste of other animals. One way is that, by clearing the ground, the beetle's activity fertilizes the soil. According to one USDA scientist, farmers could save up to two billion dollars a year if they used dung beetles in agriculture.

The copyright of the article Waste Not - Want Not in Science for Kids is owned by Debbie St. Germain. Permission to republish Waste Not - Want Not in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.