- "Its favorite dung is that of the Cactus Wolf, but usually it just makes do with Sand Lizard dung."
- — Battle Memory
Dung Beetles are enemies encountered during Chapter 3 of Mother 3. With the exception of Wan Sum Dung, Dung Beetles are constantly pushing Dung around, therefore, Salsa touching the Dung counts as regularly attacking this enemy, while touching the Dung Beetle itself counts as sneaking up behind it.
They have the lowest HP, Speed, and Defense stats of all the creatures in Death Desert. If Salsa additionally encounters a Sand Lizard in a battle with a Dung Beetle, it is highly likely that the Sand Lizard will eat the Dung Beetle after a while, rewarding no experience points to Salsa from the Dung Beetle.
Its battle sound is Battle Sound 7 and falls under Code Numbers 457 for regular attack, 458 for Smaaaash! and 459 for Miss. Like most Death Desert enemies, it uses its battle sound exclusively. Hearing his battle sound on purpose is kind of tricky, as more often than not, it wastes a turn instead of attacking. On top of that, Fassad will often make short work of it before it gets a chance to attack.
Each Dung Beetle carries and drops a random type of dung. Wan Sum Dung, a Dung Beetle lacking Dung near Death Desert's oasis, is the only one of its species that cannot be battled. Instead, he will accept Dung from Salsa (it is automatically taken from Salsa's inventory if Salsa has one), rewarding experience points in return. The amount of experience gained depends on the type of Dung, which cannot be determined until the Dung is given to Wan Sum Dung. If Wan Sum Dung does not comment on the Dung's quality, Salsa receives 5 experience points. If he mentions that the Dung is exquisitely-aged, Salsa receives 10 experience points. Lastly, if he exclaims that the Dung is Legendary Dung, which is said to be dung but also NOT dung, Salsa receives 50 experience points.