One of the other important ecosystem services performed by dung beetles is controlling livestock parasites like gut worms.
The dung of affected animals is packed full of worm eggs, and the larvae that hatch from the eggs lay waiting on neighbouring pasture plants, soon to be consumed by livestock which then become infected. Active, rapidly-colonising dung beetles can make fast work of worm-ridden pats. As the dung beetles consume dung, they kill the worm eggs and make the dung less favourable to the growth of worm larvae, giving producers a natural parasite control strategy.
More research is needed in this area. One of outcomes of the DBEE project will be an analysis of the benefits of dung beetles and their impact on livestock health.