The Minotaur Beetle - East Sussex, Autumn 2024
Minotaur beetle (Typhaeus typhoeus), 27th October 2024
Say hello to Typhaeus typhoeus, the Minotaur beetle. This one was seen last weekend in a woodland in East Sussex, spotted by my niece and daughter (the latter charges me £1 for the use of her quick eyes!).
The scientific name for the species derives from Greek mythology. Typhon was a monstrous giant who battled Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. In her book 'Mythology', Edith Hamilton describes that the, "Earth gave birth to her last and most frightlful offspring, a creature more terrible than any that had gone before"! But Zeus had lightening under his control and struck him down by Mount Etna where it is said Typhon's anger boils up sometimes, spewing out red-hot rivers to consume the fruits of Sicily (in fact, Typhaeus typhoeus can be found as far south as Morocco).
The species is one of the earth-boring dung beetles, or Dor beetles. They are in the Family Geotrupidae (from Geo, 'earth' and trypetes, 'borer'). After a little investigation it seems that the less transparent term 'Dor', comes from the Middle English 'dorre' or 'dore', and from Old English 'Dora'... which translate as, “humming insect”. Alas, there are lots of insects that make a droning or humming noise, for example, when they fly or, by rubbing their hind-legs together. But not that many make a B-line for dung so I prefer the less sanitized (?) 'Dung' beetle.
I've seen other dung beetles, such as the Forest dung beetle (Anoplotrupes stercorosus) before, but this was my first encounter with a Minotaur beetle. The family is rich with 'poster' beetles which surely can be categorized as charismatic macrofauna!
Minotaur beetles particularly favour rabbit, sheep or deer droppings. For the woodland where this one was foraging deer droppings would be top of the menu and in abundant supply.
It's the males with the fancy headgear. Unsurprisngly, they use these pronotal horns to compete with other males, yep, it's a mating thing. These clashes can also occur within burrows that are under construction, which certainly sounds like territorial defense. Depending on the conditions (e.g. the nature of the soil and the height of the water table) the burrows can be up to 1.5m deep and have up to 15 lateral side branches.
Bull-like horns, living in an underground labyrinth... what mythical creature does that remind me of... hhmmm... no don't tell me, it'll come to me ;-)
Once paired-up both sexes work to complete the burrow with the female planting a single egg into the soil at the ends of each of the side-branches. So fecundity for the species is low which at first sight seems a little precarious. But think about the protection from adverse conditions and predation afforded by those deep burrows. Plus the pair work hard to stock the larval larder with plenty of rich dung with the male working the surface and the female packing the brood chambers before they are sealed. Interestingly, in wet weather, the gathering activity of the male is notably intense as damp dung pellets are easier to work with so perhaps this years damp conditions have facilitated things?
This example of team work is where the beetles excel in terms of 'parenting' as the adults die during early to mid-summer, soon after completing the burrow. Larval development is fast with pupation occurring within the burrows in late summer and new adults, such as the one in the photo, appearing from September and often after a period of rain, which is certainly the case here! A good local food supply can enable maturation feeding and, in mild years pairing can occur again. If not then the adults will overwinter in their burrows, emerging to feed in mild weather windows. The species can therefore be recorded throughout the year so keep your eyes peeled and get on iRecord to log your finds!
References:
Primary reference
https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk/typhaeus-typhoeus, however this website was no longer available therefore the page was accessed via the Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20240616182937/https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk/typhaeus-typhoeus
Other references
Typhaeus typhoeus. (2023). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Typhaeus_typhoeus&oldid=1180100485
Typhon. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Typhon&oldid=1254046925
Minotaur. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minotaur&oldid=1254102986
Geotrupidae. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geotrupidae&oldid=1218400942
Hamilton, E. (2011). Mythology. Back Bay Books. 498pp.
Typhaeus typhoeus: Minotaur Beetle | NBN Atlas. (n.d.). Retrieved 28 October 2024, from https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000011456
The scientific name for the species derives from Greek mythology. Typhon was a monstrous giant who battled Zeus for supremacy of the cosmos. In her book 'Mythology', Edith Hamilton describes that the, "Earth gave birth to her last and most frightlful offspring, a creature more terrible than any that had gone before"! But Zeus had lightening under his control and struck him down by Mount Etna where it is said Typhon's anger boils up sometimes, spewing out red-hot rivers to consume the fruits of Sicily (in fact, Typhaeus typhoeus can be found as far south as Morocco).
The species is one of the earth-boring dung beetles, or Dor beetles. They are in the Family Geotrupidae (from Geo, 'earth' and trypetes, 'borer'). After a little investigation it seems that the less transparent term 'Dor', comes from the Middle English 'dorre' or 'dore', and from Old English 'Dora'... which translate as, “humming insect”. Alas, there are lots of insects that make a droning or humming noise, for example, when they fly or, by rubbing their hind-legs together. But not that many make a B-line for dung so I prefer the less sanitized (?) 'Dung' beetle.
I've seen other dung beetles, such as the Forest dung beetle (Anoplotrupes stercorosus) before, but this was my first encounter with a Minotaur beetle. The family is rich with 'poster' beetles which surely can be categorized as charismatic macrofauna!
Minotaur beetles particularly favour rabbit, sheep or deer droppings. For the woodland where this one was foraging deer droppings would be top of the menu and in abundant supply.
It's the males with the fancy headgear. Unsurprisngly, they use these pronotal horns to compete with other males, yep, it's a mating thing. These clashes can also occur within burrows that are under construction, which certainly sounds like territorial defense. Depending on the conditions (e.g. the nature of the soil and the height of the water table) the burrows can be up to 1.5m deep and have up to 15 lateral side branches.
Bull-like horns, living in an underground labyrinth... what mythical creature does that remind me of... hhmmm... no don't tell me, it'll come to me ;-)
Once paired-up both sexes work to complete the burrow with the female planting a single egg into the soil at the ends of each of the side-branches. So fecundity for the species is low which at first sight seems a little precarious. But think about the protection from adverse conditions and predation afforded by those deep burrows. Plus the pair work hard to stock the larval larder with plenty of rich dung with the male working the surface and the female packing the brood chambers before they are sealed. Interestingly, in wet weather, the gathering activity of the male is notably intense as damp dung pellets are easier to work with so perhaps this years damp conditions have facilitated things?
This example of team work is where the beetles excel in terms of 'parenting' as the adults die during early to mid-summer, soon after completing the burrow. Larval development is fast with pupation occurring within the burrows in late summer and new adults, such as the one in the photo, appearing from September and often after a period of rain, which is certainly the case here! A good local food supply can enable maturation feeding and, in mild years pairing can occur again. If not then the adults will overwinter in their burrows, emerging to feed in mild weather windows. The species can therefore be recorded throughout the year so keep your eyes peeled and get on iRecord to log your finds!
References:
Primary reference
https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk/typhaeus-typhoeus, however this website was no longer available therefore the page was accessed via the Wayback Machine: http://web.archive.org/web/20240616182937/https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk/typhaeus-typhoeus
Other references
Typhaeus typhoeus. (2023). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Typhaeus_typhoeus&oldid=1180100485
Typhon. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Typhon&oldid=1254046925
Minotaur. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minotaur&oldid=1254102986
Geotrupidae. (2024). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Geotrupidae&oldid=1218400942
Hamilton, E. (2011). Mythology. Back Bay Books. 498pp.
Typhaeus typhoeus: Minotaur Beetle | NBN Atlas. (n.d.). Retrieved 28 October 2024, from https://species.nbnatlas.org/species/NBNSYS0000011456