American Carrion Beetle - Necrophila americana

Such a cool find! This beetle was moving fast, but I managed to get a quick shot of it!

Approximately 20 mm long. The pronotum is pale yellow with a black splotch in the center. Elytra are black with yellow tips. I spotted this beetle on the side of a river in a deciduous forest.

Carrion beetles lay eggs in raw flesh. After hatching, the larvae consume the carrion. Larvae (and adults) also eat fly and beetle larvae that compete for the same food sources.

comments (6)

Ferdy Christant

Lion

It has such a very explicit appearance, indeed a very nice find! Posted 7 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks! Please ignore the noisy/blurry background...It was so noisy that I decided to try noise reduction in photoshop, but I think I made it worse ;P Posted 7 years ago
2. 1. Ferdy Christant
    
    Lion
    
    Didn't notice the noise, not even in full screen. There's an explanation for that. The background has a high contrast. Noise tends to blend into such backgrounds. Noise on a soft low contrast background (for example a sky) is much more visible. Posted 7 years ago
  2. 1. Christine Young
      
      Lion
      
      Huh, well, that’s good then. Thanks as always for the education, Ferdy :) Posted 7 years ago

Flown Kimmerling

Lion

Lovely! Posted 7 years ago
1. Christine Young
  
  Lion
  
  Thanks :) Posted 7 years ago

The American Carrion Beetle

The American carrion beetle is a North American beetle of the family Silphidae. It lays its eggs in, and its larvae consume, raw flesh and fungi. The larvae and adults also consume fly larvae and the larvae of other carrion beetles that compete for the same food sources as its larvae.

Info 12 0

Similar species: Beetles

Species identified by Christine Young