Bug FAQSpringtime Dung Beetle
Trypocopris vernalis · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Geotrupidae
Also called: Spring Dor-beetle, Spring Dumble Dor, Spring Dumbledor
The springtime dung beetle is black and reflects very little near-infrared light. It lives in open or semi-open habitats and young woodlands across Europe and Asia Minor, being most common in spring and early summer and rarely seen in autumn. Larvae develop on the dung of sheep and red foxes.
Source: Wikipedia
How to recognize it
Adults are black and have very low reflectance in the near-infrared spectrum.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it lives
It is a dominant or super-dominant earth-boring dung beetle in spring and early summer, but is only rarely seen in autumn.
Source: Wikipedia
Life cycle
It is most abundant in spring and early summer and becomes rare in autumn.
Source: Wikipedia
Where it comes from
It is found in Europe and Asia Minor.
Source: Wikipedia
More photos
Questions people ask
What do the larvae of this beetle eat?
The larvae feed on the dung of sheep and red foxes.
Source: Wikipedia
What does the adult beetle look like?
Adults are black and have very low near-infrared reflectance; they were formerly known as Geotrupes vernalis and are called the spring dor beetle.
Source: Wikipedia
Where does this beetle live?
It prefers open or semi-open habitats and young woodlands across Europe and Asia Minor.
Source: Wikipedia
Same family (Geotrupidae)
Sources
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trypocopris_vernalis
Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · Wikipedia
Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-22.