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Nicrophorus americanus
The largest of the North American carrion beetles and is listed as critically endangered by IUCN. N. americanus is between 25 and 45 mm long and can be identified by its striking, distinctive coloring. The body is shiny black, and on its wing covers are four scalloped, orange-red markings. Most distinctively, there is an orange-red marking on the beetle's pronotum, a large shield-like area just behind the head. N. americanus has orange facial markings and orange tips on their large antennae.
Grassland that's adjacent to small clumps of trees
This beetle was trapped, marked, and released as part of a USFWS beetle monitoring project on Block Island.
Spotted on Jun 22, 2006
Submitted on Jan 4, 2012
13 Comments
precious beetle!
Thanks for making this a special spotting today! This beetle is important to me. :-)
Sadly many thousands of species face extinction either directly or indirectly through the actions of man. The American burying beetle may not have the charisma of the panda or the rhino, but this little insect plays an important role in “reprocessing” carrion, and is also one of the few species of beetle to exhibit parental care. Its decline has been attributed to a number of factors including widespread pesticide use and habitat loss and degradation. However, scientists now believe that one of the biggest threats to the survival of the species is light pollution.
Burying beetles are unusual in that both the male and female take part in raising the young. The male locates a suitable carcass and often has to fight with other males for prime ‘real estate” so that he is able to attract a mate. The pair process the carcass by removing fur and scales, and bury it prior to mating. The female then deposits a clutch of 12 to 30 eggs on it. Once the larvae have hatched, both parents feed and tend their young for around 14 days. In addition to preparing and burying a suitable carcass, the parent beetles must chew and process food for their young, regurgitating flesh for the larvae much like birds do with their chicks.
Burying beetles are nocturnal, and studies have shown if they are exposed to light at night, they don't sufficiently prepare the carcass before the female lays her eggs on it, and often wander off, leaving their young to fend for themselves, resulting in much reduced survival rates. http://bit.ly/18UoJez
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thanks fro you nice words Goody
it's what i'am trieingto do for my 1000 somrthing special to me :)
Thanks for the comment! I intentionally made this my first spotting because it was special to me. :-)
I see you're 1 spotting away from 1,000! Congratulations!
Goody,i have the idea of go to the first spotting of some of my friends and when i go to Karen 1º spotting i remark you haved the same idea:)so here is your first,i haved allready maked a like when you enter PN ,congrats for you awesome spotting page,very good work,thanks for sharing
Yes indeed, I've read about the efforts from The Wilds, but I always seem to find the information a few months after the fact, so I can never volunteer to help out. Hopefully the next release they try will be more successful. It's at least good news that some of the reintroduction efforts elsewhere aren't doing too shabby.
I don't know if you're aware, but there are efforts right now to re-establish ABB populations in your state. Cincinnati Zoo, The Wilds, and St. Louis Zoo have been breeding and releasing beetles for a couple of years now. Unfortunately, they're not recapturing any the following spring, so it seems like they're not catching on. St. Louis Zoo has also been monitoring all over Missouri, looking for beetles that were once there. So far they've turned up nothing. Nantucket Island in MA is hanging on due to reintroduction efforts, and Block Island (from my photo above) is small but stable.
That is such a beautiful beetle. I earnestly hope that we can extend this beetle's range back to what it once was, it would be a crushing disappointment to lose it.
Thanks Goody!
I look forward to seeing more of your spottings! :)
Thank you! Interestingly, I looked at some of your photos before adding anything to the site. Your profile photo stood out and I can tell I'll enjoy going through the rest of your images. :-)
Very nice!
Welcome to Project Noah Goody!