As is so often the case, a photo of mum inspired me to dig up an old picture. She rescued a half-dried rose beetle from my balcony and wrote in the family chat "I just saw something shiny on the ground and thought it was a bottle cap. When I went to pick it up, I realised it was a beetle. I put it on a sheet of kitchen paper, gave it a few splashes of water and sure enough, something moved again😊Then I took it down to the 🪴."
I hope it's a rose chafer at all. It's pretty broken. At first I thought it was a dung beetle. Only when I zoomed in did I notice the different body structure. So, if I'm wrong, please write in the comments. If I'm right, too.
Rose chafer beetles are known for their shiny metallic bodies, which often shimmer in colours such as gold, green, blue or bronze. This shine is not caused by pigments, but by the microscopic structures of their chitinous shells, which refract and reflect light - a phenomenon known as structural colour. Although they shine like little gemstones, rose chafer beetles are surprisingly well camouflaged in their environment. Their metallic lustre refracts the light in a way that makes them blend in with their surroundings - a kind of natural camouflage. The technique reminds me of that of modern stealth bombers, which cannot be detected by radar or the naked sky.
Unlike many other beetles, rose chafer beetles can fly without lifting their elytra. Instead, they only open a small gap through which their wings extend. This efficient technique makes them exceptionally fast and skilful fliers.
Rose chafer larvae are masters of decomposition: they live in rotting wood, compost heaps or manure and help to convert organic material into nutrients for plants. These beetles thus make a valuable contribution to the ecosystem by breaking down natural waste materials. After mating, the females lay their eggs in rotting wood or compost, where the larvae find ideal conditions. The larvae of the rose chafer can grow quite large - up to 6 cm long. They have a characteristic C-shape and often move around on their backs, as their legs are rather short and not made for travelling long distances. A rose chafer only lives for a few months in the adult stage, but the larval stage can last up to two years. During this time they carry out their important work as decomposers.
These little creatures have a real sweet tooth: They feed mainly on sweet plant juices, nectar and pollen. They are often found on roses and other flowering plants, which is how they got their name. However, like so many insects, they are under pressure from the loss of natural habitats, particularly from the clearing of ancient woodland and the decline of compost heaps in modern agriculture. Some species, such as the golden rose chafer, are considered endangered in certain regions. Yet they are not only beautiful to look at, but also essential helpers for our ecosystem.
And what about the dung beetle? Well, today I'll tell you my Story of the dung beetle. Once found in every corner of Germany, it is now - surprise surprise - listed as critically endangered on the Red List of endangered species. There are hardly any valid studies on why this is the case. At least I am not aware of any directly for the common dung beetle (Geotrupes stercorarius). Hardly anyone is interested. Yet this little miracle, shimmering in the wildest mother-of-pearl colours, is so important for nature. And for us. No species on earth needs us, but we need an ecological balance to survive and that needs the dung beetle.
Just as sharks are the rubbish collectors of the seas, the dung beetle is the rubbish collector of the earth. It can smell dung over long distances and runs purposefully to perform its services. It can smell horse apple over several kilometres. The dung beetle finds this smell so appealing that it can't help but dash off to remove dung, manure, call it what you like, the shit, build little balls and spread quasi natural fertiliser everywhere along the way. These shit balls can grow quite large. In fact, the dung beetle can carry more than a thousand times its own weight. That is much more than ants can carry.
But when hikers or cyclists roll over them, it does them no good. Then they are eaten by their own kind. A bit cannibalistic by human standards, but you can't apply that to animals. The animal kingdom works differently and our use of language does not work in the animal kingdom. It is simply an effective waste disposal system for forests and meadows. Without contact with humans, they live for three years.
Contact with people. That's one of those things. There used to be a real forest with lots of life. Wild animals doing their business everywhere. A paradise, golden times for my little beetles. When man began to cultivate land and keep livestock. The dung beetle was a welcome helper on the pastures, distributing the natural fertiliser (manure). In this way, diseases of the "farm animals were avoided and important nutrients were reintroduced into the ecological cycle so that the fauna could flourish. Flourish. What a beautiful word. And so apt.
Then came industrialisation. For anyone who didn't pay attention at school, that was only seventy years ago, around 1950, and for animals like the dung beetle that means habitat loss. I don't need a study for that. That's obvious.
