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American carrion beetle

Necrophila americana

Photo by Aaron_G
Published on Project Noah
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41.5076, -71.7162

Field Notes

Description:

Adults are 12 to 22 mm long. The pronotum is primarily a pale yellow with a black spot in the center. In the southern portion of the range, the elytra are entirely black while in the northern portion they have a yellow rear tip. The elytra are shorter than the body of the beetle, leaving the tail end slightly exposed. The larvae are black and appear armored.

Habitat:

Forested area with nearby vernal pools

Notes:

Found on the carcass of a striped skunk

Reference Links:

EOL: Necrophila americana, American carrion beetle, Species Necrophila americana - American Carrion Beetle - BugGuide.Net

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (4)
Latimeria
I've had an admiration for carrion and dung beetles for a while now, so I can understand your interest, Goody!
KarenL
I'm not sure I would go that far but I'm sure I will appreciate the photos of the beetles! :)
Aaron_G
I've reared carrion beetles of several species in captivity before, so the smell of a carcass doesn't bother me much. I even have a welded cage that a friend fabricated for me that's my bait station. I find a fresh carcass and can put it under the cage to attract beetles. The weight of it keeps scavengers from getting the bait. Yeah, I'm a weirdo! ;-)
KarenL
Very brave of you to get so close to the skunk! We usually smell skunk 'road-kill' before we see it!

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Beetles!
Photographed
PublishedJanuary 4, 2012

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