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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Rove, Carrion and Fungus Beetles (Staphylinoidea) » Carrion Beetles (Silphidae) » Sexton Beetles (Nicrophorus)

Genus Nicrophorus - Sexton Beetles

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Numbers · Size · Identification · Range · Habitat · Food · Life Cycle · Works Cited

Beetle of some sort? - Nicrophorus tomentosus

Genus Nicrophorus - ? - Nicrophorus carolinus

Nicrophorus IMG_4290 - Nicrophorus pustulatus

Nicrophorus defodiens?, Canaan Valley NWR - Nicrophorus defodiens

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

Synonyms and other taxonomic changes

Nicrophorus Fabricius, 1775

Explanation of Names

from Greek necro 'death' + phor- 'bearing'

Common name: A sexton is a church officer/employee whose duties include digging graves (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) -- a reference to the beetle's carrion-burying habits

Numbers

15 spp. north of Mexico(1); local faunas: 14 spp. in Canada + Alaska(2), 11 in NE, 7 in NC(3), 6 in FL(4), 5 in CA(5)

Size

16-35 mm

Identification

Large, dark beetles, usually with orange/red patterns on the elytra

For identification see(6)(7)(8)

Range

worldwide and throughout NA

Habitat

Variety of habitats where carrion is present; some attracted to rotting fruit

Food

vertebrate carrion

Life Cycle

Remarkable parental care: adults bury a small carcass, lay eggs in it, and stay to feed the young on regurgitated carrion. (Yumm!)

Works Cited

1.	American Beetles, Volume I: Archostemata, Myxophaga, Adephaga, Polyphaga: Staphyliniformia By Arnett, R.H., Jr., and M. C. Thomas. (eds.)

2.	Checklist of the beetles of Canada and Alaska, by Y. Bousquet (Ed.), 1991

3.	NCSU insect collection species inventory database

4.	A Distributional Checklist of the Beetles (Coleoptera) of Florida

5.	California Beetle Project

6.	The Carrion Beetles of North Dakota By Guy A. Hanley and David L Cuthrell

7.	Nebraska Carrion Beetles

8.	The carrion beetles of Canada and Alaska (Coleoptera: Silphidae and Agyrtidae) By Anderson, R.S. and S.B. Peck

Contributed by Cotinis on 18 July, 2004 - 7:29am
Additional contributions by Robin McLeod, Phillip Harpootlian, ghanley1, kschnei, v belov
Last updated 15 March, 2010 - 6:41pm

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