Sacred Scarab Scarabaeus sacer

The Sacred Scarab is the most famous dung beetle - worshipped by the ancient Egyptians and appearing in their hieroglyphs. It is native to parts of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, mainly around the Mediterrnean, but also into west Central Asia.

Shiny black and some 60-65mm long, they have raised spines on their front limbs for digging, shovelling and rolling dung, their main diet. The dung is shaped into a ball and rolled/pushed to an underground burrow by one or more beetles, then consumed and recycled.