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Index of Subjects --Apple-Mail-62--931582267 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed Hi Jeannie, This is a sexton or burying beetle (Silphidae: Nicrophorinae). There are seven species in this genus, Nicrophorus, found in Nova Scotia, six of them found widely across the province. This one is Nicrophorus sayi Castelnau. You can recognize this species by the combination of the orange antennal club, the lack of pubescence on the pronotum (the "middle" section of the insect), and the pattern of the orange marks on the elytra (the cover that lies over the abdomen). In this case the orange on the dorsal surface extends down to the elytral epipleurum (the part of the elytra that folds down at the edge of the body) and curves forward around the humerus (the "shoulder" area at the front of the elytra), a feature which is readily apparent in your photos. These sexton or burying beetles are renowned for their ability to rapidly bury small mammals, birds, frogs, etc. that they find in the forest. They do so to prevent flies from laying their eggs on them, since fly larvae are competition for for their own larvae which feed on this carrion. The adults also feed on fly larvae, further reducing competition. The mites that you observed are so called "phoretic" mites which "hitch" rides on the beetles to carrion sources. The mites are specialized predators on the eggs of flies, and so an excellent symbiotic relationship exists where they mites (which cannot fly) are conveyed to their food source, and the beetles benefit by having the mites eat the eggs of their potential competitors. The butterfly is a Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon). Best wishes, Chris On 15-May-07, at 10:53 AM, Jeannie wrote: > Hi Chris and all, > Was at my cottage these past 7 days and while out listening to a > barred owl one night, I spotted 2 large black and red beetles > around my outside light.One was about an inch long maybe a bit > longer and the other was have it's size.They were only there for > one night. I have never seen anything like them before,oh yes,the > larger one had what looked like mites on it's back.Also have a > couple pics of a (grass?) snake and butterflies(moths) > > http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2257146920025930195zjDYDK > Jeannie Shermerhorn,Port Hawkesbury > > Cottage....Cape George,Cape Breton > > > jeannies@ns.sympatico.ca _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. Christopher Majka - Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History 1747 Summer Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 3A6 (902) 424-6435 Email <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._. _. --Apple-Mail-62--931582267 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 <HTML><BODY style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; = -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hi Jeannie,<DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span">This is a sexton or burying beetle = (Silphidae: Nicrophorinae). There are seven species in this genus, = <I>Nicrophorus</I>, found in Nova Scotia, six of them found widely = across the province. This one is=A0<I>Nicrophorus sayi</I> Castelnau. = You can recognize this species by the combination of the orange antennal = club, the lack of pubescence on the pronotum (the "middle" section of = the insect), and the pattern of the orange marks on the elytra (the = cover that lies over the abdomen). In this case the orange on the dorsal = surface extends down to the elytral epipleurum (the part of the elytra = that folds down at the edge of the body) and curves forward around the = humerus (the "shoulder" area at the front of the elytra), a feature = which is readily apparent in your photos.</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>These=A0sexton or burying = beetles are renowned for their ability to rapidly bury small mammals, = birds, frogs, etc. that they find in the forest. They do so to prevent = flies from laying their eggs on them, since fly larvae are competition = for for their own larvae which feed on this carrion. The adults also = feed on fly larvae, further reducing competition. The mites that you = observed are so called "phoretic" mites which "hitch" rides on the = beetles to carrion sources. The mites are specialized predators on the = eggs of flies, and so an excellent symbiotic relationship exists where = they mites (which cannot fly) are conveyed to their food source, and = the=A0beetles benefit by having the mites eat the eggs of their = potential competitors.</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><SPAN = class=3D"Apple-style-span">The butterfly is a Spring Azure = (<I>Celastrina ladon</I>).</SPAN></DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Best wishes,</DIV><DIV><BR = class=3D"khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Chris</DIV><DIV><BR><DIV><DIV= >On 15-May-07, at 10:53 AM, Jeannie wrote:</DIV><BR = class=3D"Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">Hi Chris and all,</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Was at = my cottage these past 7 days and while out listening to a barred owl one = night, I spotted 2 large black and red beetles around my outside = light.One was about an inch long maybe a bit longer and the other was = have it's size.They were only there for one night. I have never seen = anything like them before,oh yes,the larger one had what looked like = mites on it's back.Also have a couple pics of a (grass?) snake and = butterflies(moths)</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: = 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; = "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; = margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A = href=3D"http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2257146920025930195zjDYDK">http= ://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2257146920025930195zjDYDK</A></DIV><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; ">Jeannie Shermerhorn,Port Hawkesbury</DIV><DIV = style=3D"margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; = margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: = 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; = ">Cottage....Cape George,Cape Breton</DIV><DIV style=3D"margin-top: 0px; = margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: = 14px;