I had read that some species of carrion beetle prefer dead reptiles. The dogs of an aquaintance had recently killed a tutle and a large garter snake that had wandered into their yard, so I retrieved them, placed them under an inverted milk crate weighted with a large stone (to keep raccoons or possums from tampering) and checked it periodically to see *which* species came.

I had a head start actually. There were already Oiceoptoma inaequale adults and larvae on the turtle remains when I picked them up, and I had a jar containing one O. inaequale and about 25 Oiceoptoma noveboracensis in my bug refrigerator that I had taken from a skunk carcass (yum!). I released them in two locations about 50 feet from the reptile remains to see if any would choose to visit them. They did! Latest carrion beetle to join the group is one Necrophila americana, which is larger than the first two species.

Assorted small rove beetles and a possible nitidulid ("sap beetle") also came to join in the fun. Lots of M-F couplings going on, and periodically a solitary carrion beetle or larva of some will go on a hike away from the meal, for who knows what reason, and eventually head back to the party. Fun to watch after you get used to the smell.

My inescapable conclusion thus far: There is no hard-line prejudice against reptiles among these three species.