--- title: "Sacred Scarab (Scarabaeus sacer) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "A very large dung roller that shapes droppings into balls and holds heat in its thorax in flight." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/sacred-scarab-1.webp" published: "2026-09-06" updated: "2026-10-09" --- # Sacred Scarab (*Scarabaeus sacer*) > **Status**: Checked against 3 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: A very large dung roller that shapes droppings into balls and holds heat in its thorax in flight. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: 80s Retrowave & Synthwave // Kavinsky, "Nightcall" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/0U0ldCRmgCqhVvD6ksG63j) > **Vibe Match**: On a Turkish dune, 98% of the balls were made at night. Kavinsky's "Nightcall" is night-driving synthwave, a slow, steady roll through the dark. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Scarabaeus sacer* - **Danger Level**: Low - **Conservation Status**: Not Evaluated ([IUCN Red List](https://www.iucnredlist.org/)) - **Superpower**: Rolled dung balls of 16 to 86 cc in a Turkish study, and holds flight heat in its thorax - **Habitat**: Sandy ground, in a discontinuous belt from southern Europe and northern Africa across central Asia to western China - **Diet**: Dung, such as horse and water buffalo droppings - **Tags**: insect, burrower, nocturnal ## Natural History & Behavior ## A very large roller A roller is a dung beetle that cuts off a piece of dung, rolls it some distance away from the pile and buries it. *Scarabaeus sacer* is one, and a study in Turkey calls it a very large one. In that study the 30 balls it measured ranged from 16 cc to 86 cc in volume. Citing a 1982 study, the same paper gives 30 g as the fresh weight of a ball made by a single sacred scarab. It cites that study again for the three kinds of ball the beetle makes: food balls, brood balls and nuptial balls. A museum in Bulgaria says the beetle can reach 35 to 38 mm long. ## Sand, dung and night shifts The species has been reported from more than 30 countries in a discontinuous belt. The belt runs from the far west of southern Europe and northern Africa across central Asia to western China. It lives in sandy places. The Turkish study ran on a coastal sand dune, where free-ranging domestic water buffalo regularly leave dung pads. In Spain's Doñana National Park, the beetle is active from April to July. On the Turkish dune, over two nights in June, 98% of the balls were made at night, and 59% of all balls came between 21.00 and 22.00. Other studies have also recorded it active at dusk and by day. > **Heat trap** > In lab flights by beetles caught in Doñana, its thorax ran 5.6°C warmer than its abdomen on average. Its tracheal system and air sacs took up 11.66% of its body volume, against 2.79% in a close relative, *S. cicatricosus*. ## A flight engine with a heat shield Before takeoff the beetle shivers its wing muscles to warm up, which makes sure its thorax is hot enough to launch. In flight the thorax is the main heat generation centre, and the abdomen does not actively dump that heat. Researchers call this a passive thermal window. Air sacs are air-filled pockets inside the body. The study suggests the beetle's abdominal air sacs, bigger than its relative's, may work as insulation. The catch is that an abdomen that does not actively shed heat raises the danger of overheating when the air sits around 35 to 40°C. ## Crowding at the buffet On the Turkish dune the beetles also crowded together. They gathered at eight of the larger pads, of 500 g to 2,000 g, which yielded six times as many balls as the other ten pads of those sizes. A 1994 study reported glands in both males and females, which may be responsible for chemical attraction and the crowding. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Does a sacred scarab need a huge pile of dung? No. In the Turkish dune experiment it made balls from every pad size on offer, from 125 g to 2,000 g. The smallest pads gave up the biggest share of their dung to balls, at 43%. *(Source: [Sullivan et al. 2016]())* ### When is the sacred scarab active in Spain? From April to July, in Doñana National Park. The beetles used in the heat study were collected there in June 2010 and 2011, straight off horse droppings. *(Source: [Verdú, Alba-Tercedor & Jiménez-Manrique 2012]())* ### How do two Spanish dung beetles share the same dung without clashing? They work different shifts. In Doñana, *Scarabaeus cicatricosus* is more active in the warmer hours of the day, while *S. sacer* avoids them. Their bodies handle heat in different ways, which gives each its own thermal niche. *(Source: [Verdú, Alba-Tercedor & Jiménez-Manrique 2012]())* ## Sources 1. [Sacer Dung Beetle. Burgas Regional Museum.]() 2. [Sullivan et al. (2016). Does one size suit all? Dung pad size and ball production by Scarabaeus sacer (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Scarabaeinae). European Journal of Entomology.]() 3. [Verdú, Alba-Tercedor & Jiménez-Manrique (2012). Evidence of Different Thermoregulatory Mechanisms between Two Sympatric Scarabaeus Species Using Infrared Thermography and Micro-Computer Tomography. PLoS ONE.]() *Published September 6, 2026. 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