Nicrophorus concolor is a large, glossy, all-black burying beetle that lives in East Asia, including Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. Like other burying beetles, it buries small animal carcasses as food for its young. It is not found in the United States.
Appearance
- Appearance
- Shiny black all over. It is the largest burying beetle in Japan.
Look-alikes
Black burying beetleNicrophorus nigrita
A mostly black burying beetle found on the West Coast (British Columbia to Baja California, inland to Nevada) is most likely this native species, not the East Asian one. It has reddish-orange tips (clubs) on its antennae.
Why they get mixed upBoth lack the colored bands that most burying beetles have on their wing covers.
Where it lives
- Range
- Widespread in East Asia: Japan, Korea, China, and Taiwan. It does not occur in North America.
Behavior
- Diet
- Feeds on the carcasses of small animals.
- Social life
- Burying beetles of this genus work in male–female pairs: they bury a small carcass, shape it into a ball, and raise their larvae on it, sometimes feeding them mouth to mouth.
Life cycle
- Larva
- Larvae feed on the buried meat, then pupate in the soil.
Conservation
- IUCN Red List
- NENot EvaluatedNot yet assessed
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