Species Nicrophorus pustulatus

Pustulated Carrion Beetle

Nicrophorus pustulatus Herschel, 1807.

14-22 mm

Mostly black with small elytral spots rather than bands. Elytra are smooth, lacking setae (long hairs) found in the somewhat similar Nicrophorus orbicollis.

Eastern and parts of western North America: southern Canada, east of Rockies south through North Dakota to Texas, eastward.

March-October

Carrion

Reported to be a brood parasite of other Nicrophorus (1). Also reported to parasitize the eggs of Black Rat Snakes, Elaphe obsoleta (Blouin-Demers and Weatherhead, 2000; Trumbo, 2009). The beetle larvae destroy the snake eggs, thus, the beetle would qualify as a parasitoid of the snake, a relationship usually seen only among invertebrates. In the wild, Nicrophorus pustulatus is not known to exhibit the usual carcass-burying behavior of other members of its genus, though it will display some of this behavior in captivity. There is suspicion, too, that it may parasitize eggs of other reptiles, and, perhaps, birds (Trumbo, 2009).

The author of this species is Johann Dietrich Herschel (1755-1827), of Hanover, Germany--see Madge, 1994. He appears to have been the brother of the astronomer (and composer) William Herschel (see Millman, P. M. The Herschel Dynasty - Part Two - Herschel, John. ROYAL ASTRON. SOC. OF CANADA. JOURNAL V. 74, pp. 203-215, 1980--link--refer to the genealogy on p. 209).