Identification
Large for a rove beetle. Dark brown and hairy. Clumps of hair forms dark spots on much of body. Yellow hair forms "belt" under thorax, covers parts of last abdominal segments. Head wider than pronotum. Eyes large, prominently placed on sides of head. Found on carrion and fungi. Often turns yellow tip of abdomen upward when walking.
Habitat
Woodlands, and on carrion wherever found.
Season
Spring-early summer, fall. May-July, Sept-November (North Carolina), May-August, October (Minnesota).
Food
Adults eat maggots, mites, beetle larvae. Larvae feed on carrion, fungi.
Life Cycle
Eggs are laid near carrion or fungi. Larvae feed on carrion or fungi, presumably. Pupate in chambers in soil nearby. Given the collection dates of spring and fall, it seems likely that they overwinter as adults.
Print References
Milne, p. 547, fig. 227
(1)
Dillon, p. 197, plate XXI #8
(2)
Arnett, p. 142, fig. 350
(3)
Brimley, p. 143, lists only this species of the genus for North Carolina.
(4)Internet References
North Carolina State University Entomology has 68 pinned, no other species in genus.
