THE 200th

I have waited since the beginning of blog (NOT the beginning of time) for this post.  I didn’t intend to hold it for the 200th, but what time will be more auspicious than this?  I have studied Nicrophorus americanus (the American burying beetle) for the past 14 years.  So today, I will share their life cycle and the rest of the week I will tease out a few more fun things I have learned about this beetle.  Here we go… drum roll anyone?

The male American burying beetle emerges from the soil in the dark of night in search of death and romance.  It detects the stench of death using antennae tipped with a ridiculous looking orange pompom.  It seeks a carcass of suitable size (80-200 grams – think rat-sized).  Upon finding death, the male will tip his abdomen skyward and release pheromones out of his posterior.  This attracts females who are looking for romance (yes, this is a case where male flatulence is attractive and sexy).  All the ladies, and a few ambitious males, arrive at the carcass and the beetle equivalent of the “West Side Story” fight scene begins.  The largest beetles win (usually) and the losers scuttle off.  The winning male and female will celebrate by crawling under their trophy carcass and doing the equivalent of a beetle push-up, weighing the carcass.  They will work together to move the carcass to a suitable spot (about three feet).  Once a suitable spot has been secured, the beetles will use their bodies like dump trucks to excavate the soil beneath the carcass, sinking it below ground.  They will cover it with soil which will keep flies from laying eggs on the carcass (that would become maggots and eat up the trophy carcass).  It also keeps scavengers, like your dog, from finding the carcass and eating it.  Once the carcass has been buried (hence the name “burying beetle”) the male and female will use their mandibles (jaws) to rip off any fur or feathers from the carcass.  Once that is done, they will cover the carcass with oral and anal secretions (let that sink in a minute… ooooh) that slow down decomposition.  Once all of this is complete, THEN they mate (que up the Barry White).  The female lays the eggs in the soil near the carcass.  Two days later, the larvae hatch.  The beetle parents will regurgitate the carcass to feed the larvae (probably better let that sink in too).  After two weeks, the larvae are big fat grubs and they crawl into the soil to pupate.  They will emerge as young adults in a month or two and the saga will continue.  Stay tuned!