Brood burrow construction and brood care by Heliocopris japetus (Klug) and H. hamadryas (Fabricisu) (Coleoptera, Scarabaeidae)

1. Brood burrow construction and brood care were studied by excavating burrows of different ages and by re-excavating certain burrows after a defined interval. 2. Brood burrows consisted of tunnels running via an upper chamber to a lower chamber 0.55–1.3 m below ground. 3. The female excavated the upper chamber, filled it with dung, then excavated the lower chamber and packed it with dung from the upper chamber. 4. Soil was removed from around the dung to give adungmasslying free in the lower chamber. The male was present during and just before this stage, and may cooperate in pushing soil out through the tunnel. Later the tunnel was filled with soil, excluding the male from the lower chamber. 5. The female formed the dung mass into balls each of which contained an egg. Development of the larvae led to an expansion at the upper pole, producing a pear shape. Third instar larvae were found in pears with a soil covering. 6. In the case of H. japetus the pears later became soil-covered balls containing the new adults, and the female remained in the chamber and died after the young had emerged. 7. The push-ups of H. japetus and of H. hamadryas were distinguishable, reflecting slight differences in the technique of burrow construction. H. hamadryas burrows were deeper and contained smaller brood balls.