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style=3D"WORD-WRAP: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space ------=_Part_16808_29811652.1220464732757 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline No. Rats are about the largest that I've heard of getting buried, and they must be done cooperatively (i.e. more than one pair of beetles are involved). There is one theory that the American Burying Beetle (*Nicrophorus americanus*), one of the only (or the only) beetles on the US endangered species list (though maybe I'm behind on that factoid...I don't follow their list so much), is endangered because of the loss of the Passenger Pigeon, a large pigeon, which may have made up much of the carrion source for that beetle...that's the largest bird that I've heard these beetles take. If you find Burying Beetles on larger carcasses, from rabbits to moose, they are there as hunters...they feed on insects and carrion is an absolutely wonderful source of insects. Randy _________________________________ RF Lauff Way in the boonies of Antigonish County, NS. 2008/9/3 Elizabeth Doull <edoull@ns.sympatico.ca> > Do they do the same thing to homo sapiens and large animals like moose, > deer?? Thanks. Liz > > ----- Original Message ----- *From:* Christopher Majka<c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> > *To:* naturens@chebucto.ns.ca > *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 > > ------=_Part_16808_29811652.1220464732757 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline <div dir="ltr"><div>No. Rats are about the largest that I've heard of getting buried, and they must be done cooperatively (i.e. more than one pair of beetles are involved). There is one theory that the American Burying Beetle (<em>Nicrophorus americanus</em>), one of the only (or the only) beetles on the US endangered species list (though maybe I'm behind on that factoid...I don't follow their list so much), is endangered because of the loss of the Passenger Pigeon, a large pigeon, which may have made up much of the carrion source for that beetle...that's the largest bird that I've heard these beetles take.</div> <div> </div> <div>If you find Burying Beetles on larger carcasses, from rabbits to moose, they are there as hunters...they feed on insects and carrion is an absolutely wonderful source of insects.<br><br>Randy<br>_________________________________<br> RF Lauff<br>Way in the boonies of<br>Antigonish County, NS.<br></div><br> <div class="gmail_quote">2008/9/3 Elizabeth Doull <span dir="ltr"><edoull@ns.sympatico.ca></span><br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> <div style="WORD-WRAP: break-word" bgcolor="#ffffff"> <div><font face="Arial">Do they do the same thing to homo sapiens and large animals like moose, deer?? Thanks. Liz</font></div> <div> <div></div> <div class="Wj3C7c"> <div><font face="Arial"></font> </div> <div style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- <div style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4"><b>From:</b> Christopher Majka </div> <div><b>To:</b> naturens@chebucto.ns.ca </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 <i>Nicrophorus</i>. 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.</div> <div><br></div> <div>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burying_beetle</div> <div>http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/silphid.htm</div> <div>http://www.earthlife.net/insects/nicrophorus.html</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> <blockquote type="cite"> <div>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?<br> <br>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.<br><br>Lesley Butters<br> Halifax<br><br></div></blockquote></div><br> <div><span style="WORD-SPACING: 0px; TEXT-TRANSFORM: none; COLOR: rgb(0,0,0); TEXT-INDENT: 0px; WHITE-SPACE: normal; LETTER-SPACING: normal; BORDER-COLLAPSE: separate"> <div style="WORD-WRAP: break-word"> <div>Christopher Majka - Atlantic Canada Coleoptera</div> <div>http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Environment/NHR/atlantic_coleoptera.html</div> <div>c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca</div> <div></div></div></span> </div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div> ------=_Part_16808_29811652.1220464732757--
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