Abstract

• Larvae of Heliocopris bucephalus, commonly known as the dung beetle, are edible insects with high market value in Myanmar. The aim of the present study was to examine the life cycle of the cow dung beetle, Heliocopris bucephalus (Fabricius, 1775), under captive conditions and analyze the nutritional composition of its pupal stages. The rearing of dung beetles were conducted in two parts: Experiment I focused on the developmental stages from adults to the third instar larvae, while Experiment II covered the development from natural brood balls, fourth instar larvae, to the adult stages. For the first part of the study, thirty adult beetles were randomly collected from a three-feet-height dung hill in Pobba Thiri Township, Nay Pyi Taw Division, and reared in insect boxes (15.75 x 11.75 x 9.5 inches) filled with layers of cow dung at the Applied Entomology Laboratory, Zoology Department, University of Yangon, in November 2023, with a sex ratio of one male to three females. The adults built brood balls, but they were not as tightly packed as those in natural conditions. After about two and a half months, the third instar larvae in the brood balls were killed due to infection by entomopathogenic fungi and predation by mole crickets that had contaminated the dung. The rearing boxes were renovated to prevent fungal infection and predators and Experiment II was conducted. Experiment II started with the collection of wild dung brood balls containing fourth instar larvae which were then cultivated in the laboratory. The fourth instar larvae developed into fully grown adults after a study period of three months. The entire life cycle of Heliocopris bucephalus, combining the results from Experiments I and II, lasted approximately six months to complete. The nutritional values of the pupal stage, which is the edible stage, were analysed for protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre, moisture and ash content. The pupae contained 45.40% protein, 29.16% fat, 13.92% carbohydrate, 3.86% fibre, 3.44% moisture, 4.22% ash content and 497 kcal/g energy value. The nutritional content of H. bucephalus is higher than that of livestocks, with the protein content being nearly double that of soybeans, which have the highest protein content among plant-based foods.