Strange bloodthirsty behavior of beetles

American scientists see a beetle in the Peruvian rainforest attacking and eating the swarms.

A scroll rolled around the body to fight the beetles.Photo: Trond Larsen.

The beetle is one of the "inferior" animals in nature, because they eat fresh animal dung and are located near the penultimate position in the food chain. But this video shows that they are beginning to give up the habit of eating manure to become carnivores. Scientists claim this is an extremely rare case.

Dr. Trond Larsen, an ecological expert at Princeton University (USA), has repeatedly seen the Deltochilum Valgum beetle fighting with rolling mats that are dozens of times longer than them. He and his colleagues decided to find out if it was the beetle's hunting behavior. Experts put more than 1,000 traps in a tropical jungle of Peru. They put feces, fruits, mushrooms, and rolling animals (live, dead or injured) into the traps.

After many days of observation, the team found that most of the beetles advanced towards the entangled traps. However, they only like to eat wounded but alive mats. Thanks to infrared cameras, they recorded an adult beetle attacking a rolling swarm of about 11 cm in length.

Initially the predator used the middle legs and hind legs to grasp the body of the rolling. The prey fights by curling up or hitting the beetle. Wait until the power of the slide is reduced, the beetles quickly slip their teeth into the gap between the two burns on the prey. It flicked its head upwards to remove the armor of the scroll, and bit its prey with the teeth.

In some other battles, Larsen found that the beetle's head force could make the head of the scroll leave the body.

"This is a spectacular transformation. Deltochilum Valgum has abandoned the habit of eating manure to become a carnivore. This is the first case in the beetle family , " Trond commented.

The team commented that their findings demonstrate that small changes in the morphology of a species can lead to a big leap in behavior. The beetle's head is as flat and wide as a shovel to roll balls made of manure. But Deltochilum Valgum species are pointed and narrow, so they can snuggle into the gap between the prey on the prey. Sharp teeth help them pinch the prey and cut the flesh into small pieces.

The majority of beetles bury their food, but the Deltochilum Valgum species swept under the leaves after eating the soft tissue inside.

Scientists who did not participate in the study claimed that the incredible carnivorous onions of Deltochilum Valgum beetles could be the result of the fierce food competition between beetles and between them beetles with the animals other things. The sight of the adult beetles fighting to fight for feces taking place everywhere.