Dee At 8 A.M.: Nicrophorus carolina

Showing posts with label Nicrophorus carolina. Show all posts

Monday, January 12, 2026

I am a Carolina Burying Beetle

Giving this Least Shrew last rites

I dig underneath him to make him a grave

You'll only see disturbed dirt here by night.

Bonus: Check out this short video I made of the Burying Beetles in action.

Location: St. Sebastian River Buffer Preserve State Park

Sources: https://mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/carrion-beetles-burying-beetles

If you are reading and enjoying this blog, please consider supporting me on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/deeat8am, or purchase my current book, The Rhyming Guide to Florida Spiders (details at https://deeateightam.blogspot.com/p/rhyming-guide-to-florida-spiders-now.html). Thank you for being a reader and friend of Dee at 8 A.M.

We are Carolina Burying Beetles

Burying a Southern Toad at dusk

We do this to provide for our larvae and to

Prevent maggots from eating the toad before us.

Location: Tosohatchee Wildlife Management Area, Christmas

Sources: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284495468_The_carrion_beetles_Coleoptera_Silphidae_of_Nebraska

Photo and text © 2022 Dee Fairbanks Simpson

I am a Carolina Burying Beetle

So called because I bury dead bugs

Right near where I lay my eggs

So they can be eaten by my daughters and sons.

Special thanks to guest photographer, Heather Stapleton.

Location: Vero Beach, private residence

Sources: https://www.reed.edu/biology/courses/BIO431S05_2017/papers/beetle_ecology.pdf

Photo © 2021 Heather Stapleton and text © 2021 Dee Fairbanks Simpson