Nicrophorus vespilloides

Nicrophorus vespilloides inspecting a dead toad.

comments (5)

Christine Young

Lion

Oh, eww! But, so interesting! Great find! Posted 6 years ago
1. Gary B
  
  Lion
  
  A bit gross. I just a found a paper on how to attract these insects to traps using small pieces of rotting chicken meat. I wonder how species would come by? Posted 6 years ago
2. 1. Christine Young
    
    Lion
    
    Definitely icky. I once tried to rear human bot flies on raw meat. It was a project I had to do in grad school - rearing medically important insects. I managed to do ticks, mosquitoes, bed bugs, and kissing bugs. But, the human bot flies didn't like the raw meat and wouldn't complete their life cycle.
    
    The rotting meat idea is interesting though...I wonder what else would come and if it would attract any mammals as well. Posted 6 years ago
  2. 1. Gary B
      
      Lion
      
      Hopefully no large mammals although I'd be ok with shrews. You take a metal or plastic container, poke a few holes in the bottom for drainage, and sink it int the soil. Cover it with a raised board to keep out the rain. You should check it daily. I'd probably photo the beetles and then let them go with a chunk of decaying meat so they could finish out their life cycle.
      
      I think your bot flies would have preferred a live host. How did you feed ticks? Posted 6 years ago
    2. 1. Christine Young
        
        Lion
        
        Oh, neat! I will definitely try it!
        
        I had the same thought about the bot flies preferring a live host, but it was wishful thinking that the meat would work. I fed the ticks using live mice. The mosquitoes fed on captive quail. I worked in a arbovirus lab, so I had all these poor creatures on hand. I used myself to feed the bed bugs. The kissing bugs fed on mice, but didn't thrive. Posted 6 years ago