Burying Beetle
Burying beetles or sexton beetles (genus Nicrophorus) are the best-known members of the family Silphidae (carrion beetles). Most of these beetles are black with red markings on the elytra (forewings). Burying beetles are true to their name- they bury the carcasses of small vertebrates such as birds and rodents as a food source for their larvae. They are unusual among insects in that both the male and female parents take care of the brood.
The genus name is sometimes spelled Necrophorus in older texts. This is an emendation by Carl Peter Thunberg (1789) of Fabricius's original name, and is not valid.
Read more about Burying Beetle: Reproduction, Species, Fossils
Famous quotes containing the words burying and/or beetle:
“The earth, that’s nature’s mother, is her tomb.
What is her burying grave, that is her womb.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“Ere the bat hath flown
His cloistered flight, ere to black Hecate’s summons
The shard-born beetle with his drowsy hums
Hath rung night’s yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)