Today the sun finally managed to peek through the clouds. The rain has stopped but it looks like we may get a few thunderstorms this afternoon. Of course the roads are still terrible, even the Orphan Road (a well used main road on the property) is pretty muddy as you can see in the photo.
The warm weather and dryer conditions have brought the insects out with reproduction in mind. I came across this pile of dung and was soon caught up in the bustle of these little creatures. They fly in droning like helicopters, clumsy and crash into the dung. Some are working while others cruise the fringes looking for an opportunity to jump one of the other more industrious beetles for their dung ball. Fights are common with beetles wrestling and throwing their opponent over their shoulder. You can hear loud rasping as their spiky arms scratch each others shells.The pile of dung seeths with beetles, different species finding there own niche.
Gathering dung into a round ball, they roll it away to bury it. They lay there eggs in it, and when the larvae hatch, they will feed from it.
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