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Index of Subjects This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0070_01C90DA7.89CE7BC0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Do they do the same thing to homo sapiens and large animals like moose, = deer?? Thanks. Liz ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Christopher Majka=20 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 9:14 AM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Re Orange Beetle Hi Lesley, These are so-called burying beetles or sexton beetles in the genus = Nicrophorus. There are seven species in Nova Scotia. Several of these = beetles (sometimes of 2-3 different species) will cooperatively "bury" = small dead animals (hence the name) like mice, bats, frogs, songbirds, = etc. Then they lay eggs on the carrion on which the larvae will feed. = They reason for this behaviour is that their chief competition for this = food source are flies, and the more quickly they can get the dead animal = underground, the fewer the eggs that flies are able to lay on them. The = sexton beetles are also accompanied by phoretic mites that are = specialized predators of fly eggs. Below are some links to further = information about these fascinating beetles. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burying_beetle http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/silphid.htm http://www.earthlife.net/insects/nicrophorus.html All the best! Chris On 3-Sep-08, at 8:59 AM, Lesley Butters wrote: Yesterday morning, as I was clearing debris from around my property in = Albany New, I observed a dead little brown bat on the ground. A few = seconds later orange/black beetles emerged from all angles of the dead = animal.It was really creepy to watch the beetles devouring the bat, = though fascinating at the same time. An hour latter there was no sign of = beetles or bat. I have never seen this type of beetle before. Where do = they hang out between feasts? Also, on my property, I observed a very beautiful patch of Magenta = Coral Fungi and many other incredible, beautiful mushrooms. The forest = is alive, one positive behind our dark,damp and dreary summer. Lesley Butters Halifax Christopher Majka - Atlantic Canada Coleoptera http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/atlantic_coleoptera.html c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca ------=_NextPart_000_0070_01C90DA7.89CE7BC0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.6000.16705" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY=20 style=3D"WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; = -webkit-line-break: after-white-space"=20 bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial>Do they do the same thing to homo sapiens and = large=20 animals like moose, deer?? Thanks. Liz</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial></FONT> </DIV> <DIV style=3D"FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message -----=20 <DIV style=3D"BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A=20 title=3Dc.majka@ns.sympatico.ca = href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca">Christopher=20 Majka</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=3Dnaturens@chebucto.ns.ca=20 href=3D"mailto:naturens@chebucto.ns.ca">naturens@chebucto.ns.ca</A> = </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, September 03, 2008 9:14 AM</DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [NatureNS] Re Orange Beetle</DIV></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Hi Lesley, <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>These are so-called burying beetles or sexton beetles in the genus=20 <I>Nicrophorus</I>. There are seven species in Nova Scotia. Several of = these=20 beetles (sometimes of 2-3 different species) will cooperatively "bury" = small=20 dead animals (hence the name) like mice, bats, frogs, songbirds, etc. = Then they=20 lay eggs on the carrion on which the larvae will feed. They reason for = this=20 behaviour is that their chief competition for this food source are = flies, and=20 the more quickly they can get the dead animal underground, the fewer the = eggs=20 that flies are able to lay on them. The sexton beetles are also = accompanied by=20 phoretic mites that are specialized predators of fly eggs. Below are = some links=20 to further information about these fascinating beetles.</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV><A=20 href=3D"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burying_beetle">http://en.wikipedia.= org/wiki/Burying_beetle</A></DIV> <DIV><A=20 href=3D"http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/silphid.htm">http://www.kend= all-bioresearch.co.uk/silphid.htm</A></DIV> <DIV><A=20 href=3D"http://www.earthlife.net/insects/nicrophorus.html">http://www.ear= thlife.net/insects/nicrophorus.html</A></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>All the best!</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV>Chris</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>On 3-Sep-08, at 8:59 AM, Lesley Butters wrote:</DIV><BR=20 class=3DApple-interchange-newline> <BLOCKQUOTE type=3D"cite"> <DIV>Yesterday morning, as I was clearing debris from around my = property in=20 Albany New, I observed a dead little brown bat on the ground. A few = seconds=20 later orange/black beetles emerged from all angles of the dead = animal.It was=20 really creepy to watch the beetles devouring the bat, though = fascinating at=20 the same time. An hour latter there was no sign of beetles or bat. I = have=20 never seen this type of beetle before. Where do they hang out between=20 feasts?<BR><BR>Also, on my property, I observed a very beautiful patch = of=20 Magenta Coral Fungi and many other incredible, beautiful mushrooms. = The forest=20 is alive, one positive behind our dark,damp and dreary = summer.<BR><BR>Lesley=20 Butters<BR>Halifax<BR><BR></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR> <DIV apple-content-edited=3D"true"><SPAN class=3DApple-style-span=20 style=3D"WORD-SPACING: 0px; FONT: 14px 'Times New Roman'; = TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: = normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate; orphans: 2; = widows: 2; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; = -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; = -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; -webkit-text-size-adjust: = auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0"> <DIV=20 style=3D"WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space