#carrion beetle

[jenfoundabug]

I thought this feisty little critter was an isopod until I got a closer look. This is a carrion beetle larva, and, as their name suggests, adults and larvae of this insect eat dead animals, maggots that live in carrion, and/or other types of decaying organic matter. I have no idea where this one came from, since there were no dead animals nearby or compost. Perhaps an insectivorous bird dropped it, or maybe this particular species likes chicken manure (there was a chicken tractor nearby vroom vroom). Putting this next part below the cut because it's a little gross. Proceed with caution:

This carrion beetle child seemed somewhat hungry, as it was nibbling at some dead skin around my finger nail. It tickled a bit and reminded me of the shrimp they sometimes have at aquariums that will nibble at your fingers. Yes that's a thing.

unidentified Silphidae larva Northeastern Pennsylvania, US

[onenicebugperday]

@rowan-e-ravenwood submitted: look at this little fellow, all festive for the Halloween season! i've never seen anything like them, what are they?

encountered in Utah :3

Extremely festive! And even more spooky because it's a burying beetle in the genus Nicrophorus - adults find the dead bodies of small animals like birds and rodents and bury them, creating a hollow crypt chamber around the body lined with fur or feathers. They even coat the carcass with secretions to keep it from decaying too quickly or drawing other scavengers. They then mate and lay eggs in the soil around the chamber. When the larvae hatch, they feed on the carcass. Adults can even regurgitate parts of the carcass to feed the larvae even though they can feed themselves just fine. What a fun and cute little family unit :)

I can't post the photos legally but if you google "nicrophorus crypt" you can see some photos of the larvae in their home! Keep in mind photos might show parts of dead animals.

[funk7-m4x]

Carrion Beetle is rescued from our rain barrel. He had a nice meal after, aka my skin but it didn't really hurt so i let him snack

[coolbugs]

Bug of the Day

#TW snakes sneks deadthings

Ok, this is a little gross, so if you dislike gross or have a fear of snakes do not expand the post.

I found a dead garter snake in my back yard last week, and it had been there long enough to have all of these cool beetles devouring it, including this cool Margined Carrion Beetle (Oiceoptoma noveboracense). The beetle had died for whatever reason, I hope it maybe laid eggs in the snake carcass so its offspring can carry on.

[crankybutthead]

Old process video of a painting I made of Paige a few years back.

[museoftheprophet]

We have some carrion beetles at the insect petting zoo I work at that we feed by letting them clean up some bones! Made me think of you, so here is there enclosure (wasn’t able to get any lucky bugs in the photo though 😔)

OH MY GOODNESS OH MY GOD OMG OMG OMG I PLAN TO KEEP A COLONY OF DERMESTID BEETLES IN THE FUTURE FOR THIS EXACT PURPOSE (yes they will be getting warrior cats names)!!!!!!!! THEYRE SUCH GOOD HELPERS I LOVE THEM SM!!!!! AND THOSE ARE GGGGORGEOUS BONES OHMYGOODNESS!!!!!!!! running around in circles running around in circles running around in circles

Putting a sign above the enclosure that says “ELIJAH DNI (do not ingest)” /lhj

[alcnfr]

An American Carrion Beetle has joined the Bottle/Blow Flies and the Yellowjackets at the hollow under the little Oak tree, but be a fatality in there...

[fantabulisticity]

PLEASE LOOK AT THIS RARE BEETLE I FOUND THE OTHER DAY

I HAVE ONLY SEEN TWO OTHER OF THESE IN MY LIFE, AND BOTH OF THEM WERE DEAD. THIS IS THE FIRST LIVE ONE I HAVE EVER SEEN. AND IT WAS JUST CHILLIN' UNDER A TOWEL ON THE FLOOR AT WORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When I picked it up, it sprayed me with a smelly fluid, a different kind than from other beetles around here (I'm familiar with carabids' benzoquinone concoction and darkling beetles' spray, and this was WAY different. More similar-smelling to earwig stink -- almost savory, maybe umami? Like. A stale or slightly rotting mammal or fishy body fluid). Glad I was wearing gloves at the time bc some of those defense chemicals can soak into the skin and stink & burn for days (yes, I did learn this the hard way multiple times, and no, I will NOT stop picking up bugs I cannot identify).

I looked it up, and it's some kind of carrion/burying beetle, though I cannot identify it more than that. If anyone can tell me which one it is, please let me know! I don't think I live in the usual range of the Threatened one, though -- I think these bugs just aren't above ground much, so I haven't seen 'em.

Also, please read the wiki for these bugs -- they use progressive provisioning, which is "a term used in entomology to refer to a form of parental behavior in which an adult (most commonly a hymenopteran such as a bee or wasp) feeds its larvae directly after they have hatched, feeding each larva repeatedly until it has completed development. The food is typically in the form of masticated or immobilized prey items (in predatory wasps), or regurgitated nectar mixed with pollen (in bees); only rarely are other sorts of food resources used (such as glandular secretions, or carrion). ...

"...One of the only well-known examples of progressive provisioning outside of the Hymenoptera are the burying beetles, which care for their larvae and supply them with a mass of carrion, which the adults chew and regurgitate to the developing larvae."

I LOVE THESE BEETLES SO MUCH, AND I WISH I HAD SPENT MORE TIME WITH THIS LOVELY FRIEND BEFORE PUTTING IT OUTSIDE 😭😭😭😭😭

[idontthinkimokaymentally]

Hello there Carrion Beetle/Shidemushi fans.

[onenicebugperday]

Sorry I couldn’t use the submission box for these guys ^^;; I found them on a deer in southeast texas and I can’t seem to find out what they are! It doesn’t show up to well in the photo but some of them looked like their legs were orange, any help on this would be very appreciated! I love your blog and seeing and learning all about these awesome bugs!

Ohoho, some children! Hope they are enjoying that corpse. They're carrion beetle larvae, and they look to me like ridged carrion beetles, Oiceoptoma inaequale, specifically :)

[nat-ure-pics]

[thegorgonist]

Happy Halloween! Days 30 and 31 of my October beetle fairy drawing challenge are the Eyed Click Beetle and the American Carrion Beetle! These were so much fun, can't wait to collect them all into another little zine--and now I want to go look at an insect zoo!

[platycryptus]

the tomentose burying beetle (Nicrophorus tomentosus) looks a little different from other burying beetles- its thorax is covered with gold fuzz. It’s not really clear why it looks like this when the beetle is at rest, but when it takes flight its shiny black and orange elytra flip upside down to reveal the same golden color as the thorax. The result is that it looks and buzzes like a stinging bumblebee in flight (pardon my friend making this observation in the background)

It might not look that much like a bee in these brief clips I was able to capture, but it gets me for at least a few seconds every time I’ve seen one flying. I vividly recall watching a bumblebee instantly transform into a beetle upon hitting the ground as a kid and being deeply confused

(Massachusetts, 7/6/21)

(also if you see this post and you’re not already familiar with burying beetles in general I suggest looking them up, they’re really cool)

[antiqueanimals]

A Textbook in General Zoology. Written by Henry R. Linville, Henry A. Kelly, Harley J. Van Cleave. 1929.

Internet Archive

[girlcockholmes]

OKAY RHODE ISLAND I WAS NOT FAMILIAR WITH YOUR GAME!!!!!!!!!!!

[all-consuming-rot]

ah, sensing my deadness