| Latin Name | Observation Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Alissonotum pauper | May 11, 2026 | Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh |
During the summer or rainy days, when we turn on the lights in the house at night, various kinds of insects fly. Among them, we often see a kind of insect with a very hard shell, dark in color. After flying around the light for a while, they fall to the floor and when they turn over, they start moving their legs to straighten up.
Today, I am sharing some information about this familiar yet unknown insect.
Introduction and scientific name:
We usually know them as dung beetles. However, it has a specific scientific name, which is Alissonotum pauper. It is basically a type of beetle or dung beetle belonging to the Scarabaeidae family.
What is the insect?
It is not very large in size, but it is quite strong. The shell on their back is shiny black or dark brown. There are fine longitudinal spots on the shell. Their legs are quite spiny and strong, which is perfect for digging the soil.
Where do they live (habitat)
They are native to the warm and humid regions of the Asian continent, especially in Bangladesh, India and neighboring countries. They usually prefer to live in agricultural lands, grassy fields, sugarcane fields or damp soil. During the day, they hide underground and only come out at night when attracted to light.
What do they eat?
The type of food is different in the two stages of their life cycle. In the larval or pupal stage, they live underground and feed on the roots and rotten leaves of grass or crops. And after becoming an adult insect, they feed on the young stems of various trees, the sap of grass-like plants or the juice of sweet fruits.
How does reproduction occur?
Their entire reproduction process is completed underground. The adult female insect lays eggs in soft or damp soil. The eggs hatch into white larvae (called white grubs). These larvae grow underground by eating the roots of plants. Then they turn into pupae or maggots and after a certain time, they emerge from the soil as full-grown insects.
Beneficial aspects:
Although they do not benefit us directly, they play a small role in maintaining the balance of nature. They help to increase the nutritional value and fertility of the soil by eating rotten leaves or organic matter underground. In addition, they are a part of our ecosystem as food for frogs, poultry, birds and other small animals.
Harmful aspects:
This insect is a big headache for farmers. In particular, their larvae or worms cut the roots of various crops (such as sugarcane, corn or grass crops) from underground. As a result, the plants dry up quickly and die. The adult insects also sometimes damage the crops by piercing the soft roots of the plants.
Do these insects also come running around your house at night, attracted by light? Let us know in the comment.
(All posts are written in Bengali and translated into English using Google Translate.)
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| Camera Used | Samsung SM-G973F |
|---|---|
| F-Stop | F2.4 |
| ISO speed | ISO |
| Focal length | 26mm |
| Flash | ON |
| Editing app | MIX |
| Photography | (dung beetle Alissonotum pauper) |
| Photographer |  @mshbd |
| Location | Purulia, Natore, Bangladesh |
| Link to original community |
|---|
| https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/360663285 |
| Latitude | Longitude | Map Link |
|---|---|---|
| 24.3319 | 89.1089 | https://www.openstreetmap.org/?#map=12/24.3319/89.1089 |
