Burying Beetle: babies or parasites?
I found this swimming around in the cat’s water dish one morning in West Tennessee. I forgot to get a photo with a size reference, but it was about an inch long. I believe it might be a burying beetle? Although its markings differ from the other photos on your site. The freaky part, though, was the swarm of little bugs on its back. They were running around, trying to stay dry. I think they might have eight legs; mites, maybe? At any rate, I put the whole shebang outdoors to continue playing out its drama. I love the site. I saw my first cicada killer last summer, and you guys helped me identify it. Thanks!
D
Hi D,
These are neither babies nor parasites. They are Mites, but they are not parasitic on the beetle. The young beetle larvae eat rotting carrion, so anything that shares the same diet becomes a threat to the survival of the next generation of Burying Beetles or Sexton Beetles. Maggots, the immature form of flies, are competitors for this food source. The Mites eat fly eggs and freshly hatched maggots. The Mites do not fly and have no means of getting to their next meal once they have eaten all the maggots on a corpse. The Burying Beetle flies from food source to food source. The Mites are just hitching a ride on the Beetle. This is a mutually advantageous or symbiotic relationship. The Mites get a new food source, and they devour the competitors for the young beetles’ food supply. Burying Beetles carrying large quantities of Mites have a better chance of producing offspring. Phoresy is the proper term for one organism hitching a ride on a more mobile organism. We have seen photos of some Burying Beetles so laden with Mites, it is a wonder they can fly.
¶ Posted 14 April 2007 § Mites ‡ ° BeetleBug?!
Hi I saw this beetle while taking a walk and thought id photograph it. It appears to have children on its back that it is guarding. I was just wonder what type of beetle it is and what its habits are?
Stefan
Hi Stefan,
This is a Burying Beetle in the genus Nicrophorus. The creatures you perceived as children are mites. The mites are not parasitic on the beetle, but use it for transportation, a phenomenon known as phoresy. The mites climb on the beetle to be carried to the next dead creature the beetle encounters. The Burying Beetles often work in pairs burying animals after finding small dead rodents or birds, or even reptiles. Once the beetles have successfully buried the animal, eggs are laid and the carcass will provide food for the newly hatched larvae.
¶ Posted 09 October 2006 § ‡ ° whats this?
Bugman,
Thanks for the hard work you put in to your wonderful site! My sweetie and I have been exploring a meadow in central mass -part of an audubon refuge- and have become quite fascinated with the monarch butterflies and their exploding population. Over the past few months we’ve spent a lot of time there and we’ve been working on witnessing every stage of their amazing transformation. I have a terrible attention span, however, and at one point I wandered away from the shiny chrysalis I’d been staring at and got surprised by this bug buzzing around in the tall grass. I managed to snap a few pictures of it before it flew away, but I think this was one of the creepier bug-spectacles I’ve seen yet. Please tell us whether it’s a mom offering her offspring a ride or a swarm of parasitical mites!
Andrew, Arlington Mass.
Hi Andrew,
This is neither. It is a beetle giving a ride to some Mites, a phenomenom known as Phoresy. We often get photos of Mites using Burying Beetles for transportation to a fresh carcass. This looks more like a Flower Scarab Beetle, but we will see if Eric Eaton can provide further insight. Eric quickly wrote back: “Had me fooled for a moment, too, but it IS a burying beetle, specifically Nicrophorus tomentosus, named for the yellow tomentum (fuzz) on its thorax. Eric”
¶ Posted 01 September 2006 § Mites ‡ ° Burying beetles score a snake!
Thanks, again, you guys. I was stalking a zebra longwing when something big and slightly clumsy flew by and landed in the grass a few feet away. Since it was maybe 2″ long and went busily to work on the ground, I went over to see what the commotion was all about. These two burying beetles were busy pulling the tail end of this snake into a hole they were digging in the ground. Big chunks of the snake had been chewed away. (I don’t know what kind of snake this is; at less than 12″ long, it’s probably a youngster.) After ID-ing the beetle on your site, I thought you might like to see these.
Diane in Florida
Hi Diane,
Thanks for the wonderful images. We believe that this is Nicrophorus carolinus, based on a BugGuide posting.
¶ Posted 27 August 2006 § ‡ ° My friend Joseph and I found this bug while chatting on the photo drive at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA. At first I thought it was a stinker bug and Joseph tried to squish it to see if it would really stink, but in a lightig quick move I stopped him just before his foot hit the ground. Upon a second and closer inspection I found out it was not a stinker bug. Since we are photo and film students, we decided that we needed to have a picture taken of it, so we did. Now I am sending it to you for your web site.
Thanks a bunch.
Bettina
Hi Bettina,
I am so happy to hear you and Joseph are having fun while pursuing your studies. Like I told you in front of my class, this is one of the Burying Beetles. Further research on BugGuide leads me to believe it is Nicrophorus nigrita, the Black Burying Beetle. Burying Beetles often work in as a pair when they locate a small dead animal like a mouse or bird. The beetles dig a pit under the corpse until it is below the surface. Then they bury the critter and lay eggs. I also noticed some mites on your beetle when you presented it to me in that American Spirit cigarette pack. The mites hitch a ride on the beetle and feed on maggots that are attracted to the rotting flesh.
¶ Posted 03 July 2006 § ‡ ° beetle with offspring?
Hi There. We found this creature in our house one evening. It had small, moving, red creatures(?) on it’s back which I thought might be offspring or parasites. I’ve never seen this type of bug before. Can you help? We live in Santa Barbara, CA. Thanks for your help.
PW
Hi PW,
This is a Burying Beetle in the genus Nicrophorus. Here is a quote from a posting Eric Eaton made to Bugguide: “The mites are phoretic, meaning they are only using the beetle as transportation. This is a carrion beetle (Nicrophorus sp.), and once it arrives at a carcass, the mites will disembark (de-beetle?), and go about feeding on the eggs of blow flies, the beetle’s major competition for the corpse. So, the mites actually benefit the beetle.”
Update from Barry M. OConnor (05/23/2006)
Mites on burying beetles. These are as you indicate, phoretic mites in the family Parasitidae, genus Poecilochirus. Species in this genus all have obligate relationships with silphid beetles. Although they will feed on fly eggs, they also feed from the vertebrate carrion as well.
¶ Posted 11 May 2006 § Mites ‡ ° another bug
Hi guys…
I discovered this guy hiding under groundcover…. Perfect timing—he looks like the Halloween bug…. Some borer or beetle I guess…if you know the name, I’d appreciate it! Thanks,
Sherrie Gerber
Hi Sherrie,
This is one of the Burying Beetles, so named because they bury small dead animals that act as a larval food source.
¶ Posted 18 October 2005 § ‡ ° biggest beetle iv ever seen
this flying beetle thinggie was spotted and photographed inside of a crushed dishwasher in the metal pile at the dump on nantucket island in august 05.. it was at least three inches long i only got one shot of it before it flew off.. what was it?
August
Hi August,
This is an American Burying Beetle, Nicrophorus americanus, and our beetle guide says they grow to 35 mm, or just about 1 1/2 inches, which is still pretty large. I guess you found it in the dump as that is probably a good place to find carrion, the larval food source. It is often attracted to lights and is found near dead animals.
Ed. Note: This just in from Eric Eaton. (09/12/2005)
“If that image is indeed an American burying beetle, and it sure does look like it, then you have a “scoop.” The American burying beetle is a federally listed endangered species. It is critical that we identify EXACTLY where this specimen was photographed. It may represent a new record, and/or reflect a successful reintroduction effort. The locality information, and the image, should be forwarded to someone at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Please keep me posted on this most important find. Thanks. Eric”
(09/14/2005) Followup from Eric Eaton:
A quick Google search turned up that they do have a release site on Nantucket Island for the American burying beetle. I found a couple people to e-mail to, so maybe we’ll find out more at some point. Looks like they need to do a bit more public awareness so folks know about the insect! Eric
¶ Posted 10 September 2005 § ‡ ° 
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