Nature's recyclers and caring parents

by Dmitri

Burying beetles (family Silphidae) belong to one of the most important groups of insects. In nature, they are responsible for cleansing the earth from dead organic materials. About 94% of corpses of dead birds and small animals are buried and utilised by these beetles, compared with only 6% by scavenging mammals. As recyclers, burying beetles do an indispensable job for our planet and for us. Without them the planet would soon be piled deep with the waste products of its inhabitants, and the potential spread of diseases would be unavoidable. Whether we like it or not, our own existence directly depends on insects and their ecological services.  

Burying beetles are also really caring parents. Males and females form parental pairs, concealing and maintaining carrion, and raising their offspring (as seen in the title image). A pair of adults buries the carcass of a dead animal, cleans it of fur or feathers, destroys the eggs or larvae of any flesh-eating flies, and prepares a meat ball from it. The ball is protected from rotting by anal secretions from the beetles that kill bacteria. After mating, the female lays 4 to 30 eggs in the soil near the carrion. The young larvae that hatch from these eggs are fed by the parents who ingest flesh from the carrion and regurgitate partially-digested food directly to their mouthparts. The beetles interact with their larvae much as a mother bird interacts with her nestlings: when a parent approaches the larvae, they rear up and make ‘begging movements with their legs’ asking for food. As the larvae grow in size, they beg less often and start feeding on their own. After one or two weeks, the larvae pupate in the soil, and a few weeks later, new adult beetles emerge. The mother stays with her offspring until they are ready to pupate, while the male leaves a few days earlier.

Could you imagine that such parental care could exist in creatures so small? Indeed, nature is full of surprises for those who are ready to notice them.

Take care of one another this Christmas.

Dmitri Logunov

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Title image: A parental pair of burying beetles (Nicrophorus vespilloides) taking care of their larvae; beetles and larvae are sitting on the meat ball prepared by the beetles © V.A. Timokhanov.