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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Series Staphyliniformia » Staphylinoidea » Carrion Beetles (Silphidae) » Sexton Beetles (Nicrophorus) » Roundneck Sexton Beetle (Nicrophorus orbicollis)
Photo#434842
could this be a burying beetle? - Nicrophorus orbicollis
Copyright © 2010 Leslie Sullivan

could this be a burying beetle? - Nicrophorus orbicollis
Woolwich, Sagadahoc County, Maine, USA
July 2, 2010
Size: .855 inch (almost an inch
Found this beetle in my house near a door with little space underneath that lets in bugs : ) I read that burying beetles are considered extinct in Maine - is that true? I've seen a couple recently. We have MANY moles, shrews and mice in our garden. I read that when a shrew/mole dies the beetle carries it away to it's "home" then the Burying Beetle lays and raises their young in the carcase.
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Contributed by Leslie Sullivan on 30 July, 2010 - 7:39pm
Last updated 1 September, 2010 - 4:16pm

Nicrophorus orbicollis
note elytra with fine long hairs- most visible in the lateral shot.
… Tim Loh, 1 September, 2010 - 4:16pm login or register to post comments

Moved
Moved from ID Request.
… john and jane balaban, 12 August, 2010 - 8:49pm login or register to post comments

Genus Nicrophorus
I am not sure exactly which one but I would tend to N. carolinus or N. sayi. I would wait if an expert can help you out id'ing it to species.

The one that is rarely seen, but a few places in the United States in N. americanus the American Burying Beetle. That one has more dark red spots on the elytra and also a big red spot on the pronotum.

Nice pictures
… okeller, 30 July, 2010 - 9:02pm login or register to post comments

 
Hi okeller, Thanks : )
Hi okeller,
Thanks : )
… Leslie Sullivan, 9 August, 2010 - 11:49pm login or register to post comments

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