Insects and Spiders - native

sexton beetle (genus Nicrophorus) on Mar 24, 2025

Submitter does not have a specimen

Description of specimen

Several inches in body length. Flew to screen then flew away.

Commentary

Thank you for your report! Phone IDs are often way off, but this time it's correct: that is a burying beetle in the genus Nicrophorus (sexton beetles). Very very cool animals. Adults bury carrion, on which their larvae feed. (A sexton digs the grave and tends the graveyard.)

Tom Valente
March 25, 2025, 2:05 a.m.