The dung beetle uses an amazing technique where it uses the Milky Way Galaxy as seen from the skies as a map to guide itself through its landscape while pushing away its ball of poop, looking for a safe place to eat its precious dinner.

In a new study, scientists from Lund University in Sweden reveals how the beetles only need one good look of the heavens to find its way through its surroundings. Researchers say that the beetle does not require an "innate prediction of the natural geographical relationship with celestial cues".

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How does the dung beetle take this "snapshot" of the galaxy? By dancing on top of their poo ball to take a single photograph.

Dung beetles unlike most insects, eat poop. Due to their unusual diet, they will hunt for a pile of dung and then roll some material to a size that is manageable for them by pushing the ball on a straight line, which is also an act of protecting their meal.

For this new study, the researchers placed the beetles under laboratory conditions, where they can can control an artificial sky. During experiments, the researchers changed the fake sun and moon directions, to see the beetles' reactions.

The results revealed that the tiny creatures use this single photograph technique, as the dung beetle dances around, it simultaneously stores this image in its brain, using the snapshot to sync with the present sky.

According to lead author of the study, Basil el Jundi from Lund University, this is the first study to show that dung beetles use this technique to capture snapshots. This also marks the first evidence to show how they store and utilize images inside their minute brains.

El Jundi explains that other insects also acquire their own navigation by also using celestial bodies as a guide however, the dung beetles are unique since they are the only species to capture a snapshot to gather the data they need from the celestial bodies like the sun, moon and stars, and use their current positions as a map for their environment.

This new study is published in the journal Current Biology.

Tagsdung beetles, snapshot milky way, Insects