Sacred Scarab

The sacred scarab (Scarabaeus sacer) is a dung beetle of the Mediterranean region that rolls balls of dung. Ancient Egyptians saw it as a symbol of the sun god Khepri rolling the sun across the sky.

🧬 Field Guide Specimen: Open Sacred Scarab in the CRV Science Field Guide to log the specimen, see its place among the Ecdysozoa lineages in the Cladogram Explorer, and test your recall in the Red List conservation game.

The beetle shapes fresh dung into a ball and rolls it away from competitors, walking backward, then buries it. The ball is food for the beetle or a nest for its egg and larva. Rolling in a straight line away from the pile avoids the crowd.

Dung beetles use the pattern of polarized light in the sky to keep a straight path. Experiments with a related African species showed that the beetles can orient using the Milky Way on moonless nights, the first such use known in an insect.

Egyptians carved scarab amulets and saw the young beetles emerging from the ground as a sign of renewal. Dung beetles also improve soils and reduce dung-breeding pests.

• Hercules Beetle — another scarab beetle
• European Stag Beetle — another large beetle