Day 5, phoretic/kleptoparasitic flies on a Dung Beetle

"Many dung beetles form their prized poop into a ball, which they then roll away, pushing with their front legs and using their hind legs to hold the ball as it spins on an invisible axle. Some species work as a team, and in other species, the male does the poop-pushing whilst the female catches a ride on top.

After the dung ball has reached its burial chamber, the female lays one or more eggs inside (this differs between species, of course), and when the larva hatches, it is surrounded by dinner. In some species, the adults remain with the dung ball to protect their growing brood, a form of parental care.

Sometimes, dung beetles get lost, which is probably not difficult when standing on your front legs to push a dung ball around. When this happens, the beetle stops rolling, climbs aboard the dung ball and orients itself by observing the sun, moon and polarised light. At night, they orient themselves using the Milky Way -- making them the only animal (beside humans) to use the Milky Way to navigate."
www.theguardian.com/science/grrlscientist/2013/may/11/1

Just a link about phoretic/kleptoparasitic flies that were on some of the Dung Beetles that we saw at the King Ranch, Norias Division, on 23 March 2019. I posted a photo this morning of one of the beetles that had these flies on its back.

bugguide.net/node/view/1126184/bgimage