What are these insects that are breaking down the horse poo?

[popsicle]

Hi everyone!... Just a random question really. Have noticed that a couple of times a year, the horse poo seems to be broken down into 'sawdust' almost within a couple of days and when you poo pick the barrow is full of tiny little insects... Anyone know what they are?

 

[SillySausage]

We've had the same thing with the poo being broken down but haven't seen insects.

We've put it down to the crows as they're always picking at it!

 

[Bertolie]

Its the crows that are breaking ours down as well - presumably to get to the insects!!

 

[katherine1975]

They are sung beetles

 

[katherine1975]

Sorry on mobile phone dung beetles

 

[xxMozlarxx]

Yes..my barrow was teaming with them yesterday!,

 

[Dubsie]

It's magpies rather than crows here, very annoying as it makes poo picking much harder as it's spread everywhere (my boys poo in a pile)

 

[YasandCrystal]

Dung beetles - fabulous little beetles that eagerly break down the dung. They get a beautiful iridescent purple tummy when they reach maturity

 

[sarelis]

While poo picking today I encountered lots of 'exploded' poos, that explains it then!

 

[popsicle]

I thought dung beetles were quite big... have seen them, but these were tiny little things in their hundreds.

 

[Ollie's Mum]

My guess would be dung beetles too.

I once tried to gather up some poo with my poo picker rake and wondered why a bit seemed to be moving of it's own accord Turned out I was trying to scoop up a little mouse Time to get to Specsavers methinks!!

 

[MileAMinute]

Dung beetles - fabulous little beetles that eagerly break down the dung. They get a beautiful iridescent purple tummy when they reach maturity

Only horsey people could describe dung beetles as fabulous and beautiful!

 

[Irishbabygirl]

Yep dung beetles - they also lay eggs in horse poo which I only discovered last summer after panicing that they were worm eggs! Lol!

 

[YasandCrystal]

Only horsey people could describe dung beetles as fabulous and beautiful!

 

[flirtygerty]

I've noticed the little insects, on and under the poo, hundreds of them on
one pile, these are not dung beetles, unless they are babies

 

[Toffee44]

My guess would be dung beetles too.

I once tried to gather up some poo with my poo picker rake and wondered why a bit seemed to be moving of it's own accord Turned out I was trying to scoop up a little mouse Time to get to Specsavers methinks!!

Did that today, there I was laying a fresh bed and my bank kept moving!!!!! Little mouse then tried desperately to climb up the wall as I was giving the bank a pounding....I then screamed like the inner girly girl I am

 

[Beausmate]

Are these the bronze coloured beetles, about half a cm long? I must say, while I think they're doing a fine job of reducing my muck heap, it takes ages to pick the fluffy poos and is slowly sending me potty!!

 

[MileAMinute]

Are these the bronze coloured beetles, about half a cm long? I must say, while I think they're doing a fine job of reducing my muck heap, it takes ages to pick the fluffy poos and is slowly sending me potty!!

Oh I hate those fluffy poos! They stick to the grass horribly!

 

[Gucci_b]

I see the crows come and sabotage the poo's in my field..

 

[Ladydragon]

Did that today, there I was laying a fresh bed and my bank kept moving!!!!! Little mouse then tried desperately to climb up the wall as I was giving the bank a pounding....I then screamed like the inner girly girl I am

I know I shouldn't, but that really did make me laugh...

 

[Tormenta]

No not dung beetles, they tend to be found in the poo when you pick it up or flick it over, I think she is talking about heaps of little flies, I sometimes even find them in November if it is still warm, they crawl all over and through the poo and don't fly away even if you are scraping it up (maybe just off and on again) They are appeariing with us again now and in the last few weeks, no beetles yet here though

 

[smellsofhorse]

We have this, its dung beetles, big black ones.
Apparently they are immagrints that have come over from other countries!

 

[xxMozlarxx]

Not flies...beetles! My barrow is teaming with them in the bottom when I've emptied it...

 

[popsicle]

Not flies...beetles! My barrow is teaming with them in the bottom when I've emptied it...

Yea!.. Too small for dung beetles. The poo is teaming with them and as a previous poster said, they don't fly away and hundreds are left in the bottom of the wheel barrow when you empty the poo

 

[brighteyes]

They are definitely beetles. And they decimate piles of droppings. Someone look them up please!

 

[cremedemonthe]

There's quite a few types of dung beetle,large and small, have a look at this lot to see if you recognise them?

http://www.eakringbirds.com/eakringbirds5/insectsdungbeetles.htm

Oz

 

[Wagtail]

Jackdaws!

 

[flirtygerty]

Too small to be Jackdaws, plus they don't fly and are tiny
and very visible

 

[katherine1975]

They are definitely tiny beetles in my poo, the birds then spread the poo by eating the beetles.

 

[abaddon_1974]

I see a lot of brown spiders which dig burrows under the dung. The holes are about 1cm across and look deep.