Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes

Calendar
BugGuide Gathering
Smoky Mountains
University of Tennessee Biological Field Station
August 8-10, 2008
Details...
 
Photos from the last gathering (Minnesota 2007)

TaxonomyBrowse
Info
ImagesLinksBooksData

Genus Nicrophorus - Sexton Beetles

Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga (Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles)
Superfamily Staphylinoidea (Rove, Carrion and Fungus Beetles)
Family Silphidae (Carrion Beetles)
Genus Nicrophorus (Sexton Beetles)
Other Common Names
Burying Beetles
Numbers
Nearctica.com lists 16 species for North America
Size
16-35 mm
Identification
Large, dark beetles with orange patterns. Attracted to carrion
Habitat
Variety of habitats where carrion is present
Life Cycle
Remarkable parental care of larvae. Adults bury a small (usually) carcass, lay eggs in it, and stay with it, feeding the young on regurgitated carrion. (Yumm!)
Remarks
Guide TBA--PC.
Print References
Papp (2)
Arnett (3)

Anderson, R. S. and Peck, S. B., 1985. The insects and arachnids of Canada and Alaska, part
13. The carrion beetles of Canada and Alaska. Coleoptera: Silphidae and Agyrtidae.
Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Publication 1778. 121 pp.
Internet References
Insects of Cedar Creek--photos of several species
Insects of Northeastern Iowa--Silphidae, several photos of Nicrophorus specimens
North Carolina State University Entomology Collection--lists seven species from that state: americanus (18), carolinus (7), marginatus (22), orbicullis (40), pustulatus (27), tomentotus (171). N. americanus is endangered, and may not be found in the state any longer.
Works Cited
1.A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America
By Dillon, Elizabeth S., and Dillon, Lawrence
2.Introduction to North American Beetles
By Charles S. Papp
3.How to Know the Beetles
By Ross H. Arnett, N. M. Downie, H. E. Jaques