(Oiceoptoma noveboracense)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
|
||||||
IUCN Red List | not listed |
||||||
NatureServe | NNR - Unranked |
||||||
Minnesota | not listed |
||||||
Description |
||
Margined carrion beetle is a ⅜″ to ½″ long carrion beetle found mostly in deciduous forests. These beetles are used by crime scene investigators to estimate post mortem intervals (PMI). The pronotum is dark brown or black with with orange-red lateral margins. The orange-red area does not extend across the lower margin. The thick, hardened, shell-like forewings (elytra) are dark brown and have a distinctive tooth on the shoulder. Conspicuous vertical ridges extend from the base over more than half the length of the elytra. The elytra ends are rounded on males, more tapered on females. The temples behind the eyes bear a row of long, erect, yellow-tinted bristles. The metatibiae are enlarged on males. |
||
Size |
||
⅜″ to ½″ |
||
Similar Species |
||
American carrion beetle (Necrophila americana) is larger, ½″ to ¾″ long. The pronotum has yellow margins and a black mark that does not extend to the lower margin. Ridged carrion beetle (Oiceoptoma inaequale) has an entirely black pronotum with no colored margins. |
||
Habitat |
||
Deciduous forests. |
||
Biology |
||
Season |
||
April to October |
||
Behavior |
||
|
||
Life Cycle |
||
Adults overwinter and reproduction takes place in the spring. There is one generation per year. |
||
Larva Food |
||
Carrion, decaying fungi. |
||
Adult Food |
||
Fly larvae on carrion and, rarely, the carrion itself. |
||
Distribution |
||||
Sources |
||||
2/25/2021 | ||||
Occurrence |
||||
|
||||
Taxonomy |
|||
Order |
Coleoptera (beetles) | ||
Suborder |
Polyphaga (water, rove, scarab, long-horned, leaf, and snout beetles) | ||
Infraorder |
Staphyliniformia | ||
Superfamily |
Staphylinoidea (rove, carrion and fungus beetles) | ||
Family |
Silphidae (carrion beetles) | ||
Subfamily |
Silphinae | ||
Genus |
Oiceoptoma | ||
Synonyms |
|||
Silpha noveboracensis Oiceoptoma noveboracensis |
|||
Common Names |
|||
margined carrion beetle |
|||
Glossary
Elytra
The hardened or leathery forewings of beetles used to protect the fragile hindwings, which are used for flying. Singular: elytron.
Metatibia
Hind tibia. The hind portion of the fourth segment of an insect leg.
Pronotum
The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.
Tibia
The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot).
Slideshows |
||
Visitor Videos |
|||
Share your video of this insect. |
|||
This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
|||
Other Videos |
|||
Deer carcass fauna weirdbuglady |
|||
About
Published on Jun 14, 2012 My lab mates and I pulled up to a field site, and smelled something funny. Turns out there was a decaying deer carcass in the grass. Being entomologists, we had to get a closer look at the insect life. I have identified the carrion beetle: Oiceoptoma noveboracense. It is in the family Silphidae, the carrion beetles. I observed it attacking, carrying, and eating one of the maggots. |
|||
Visitor Sightings |
|||||
Report a sighting of this insect. |
|||||
This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
|||||
|
|||||
MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings |
|||||
Last Updated: