The gravedigger -researcher [1] [2] , or the gravedigger-prospector [1] ( lat. Nicrophorus investigator ) is a species of carrion beetles from the subfamily of gravediggers . Necrophage . Lifestyle is characterized by complex care for offspring. The female and the male bury the corpses of small animals in the soil, where the development of the preimaginal stages takes place. On beetles one can find ticks- commensals Pergamasus crassipes .
| Grave digger |
 |
| Scientific classification |
|---|
| No rank : | Bilateral symmetric |
| Hoard : | Insects with full transformation |
| Suborder : | Polyphagous beetles |
| Infrastructure : | Staphylineiform |
| Superfamily : | Staphilinoid |
|
| International Scientific Name |
|---|
Nicrophorus investigator
Zetterstedt , 1824 |
|
Content
Body length 10.5-24 mm. Antenna mace two-colored - apical segments of red color. Pronotum pronounced trapezoid, devoid of hair. The elytra is black with two red bands, the hairs are not pubescent from above, but the shoulders are covered with short black hairs, and the posterior angles of the elytra are brown in hairs. Epipleura completely yellow or with dark spots. The pattern of elytra and the color of the epipleur can vary greatly. Posterior chest covered with long yellow or brown hairs. Abdomen, except for pygidium, covered with dark hairs. Hind thighs covered with dark hairs. Hind tibia short, straight, widened to apex.
It is widely distributed in Europe , in the Caucasus , in the countries of the Transcaucasus , in North and Central Asia (in the south it reaches Pakistan ), it is known from Mongolia , Japan and in North America . Beetles prefer open meadow and steppe biocenoses. Usually beetles gather in large numbers near forest belts and large bodies of water.
It is a necrophage : it feeds on carrion both at the imago stage and at the larval stage. Beetles bury the corpses of small animals in the soil (for which the beetles got their name "gravediggers") and show developed care for the offspring - the larvae, preparing for them a nutrient substrate. In the absence of the main food source, cases of optional predation or feeding on rotting plant debris and fungi are described.
Thanks to the developed antenna chemoreceptors , they smell carrion from afar and are able to fly to it hundreds of meters away. The male and female together bury the carrion found (usually it is the corpse of a small mammal or bird), raking the ground from under it; thus they hide it from other scavengers (carrion flies and beetles). They use excrement and saliva to slow the decomposition and remove the smell of decomposition, attracting the attention of competitors. The instillation also prevents the corpse from drying out during the period when the larvae feed on it. With loose soil, the digging occurs very quickly, within a few hours. Sometimes, undermining a corpse on the one hand, the grave-diggers gradually move it from a place inconvenient for burial. After digging, the female lays nearby eggs (usually in an earthen fossa). As a rule, one pair of beetles takes one carcass, which has chased away the rest.
Larvae with 6 underdeveloped legs and groups of 6 eyes on each side emerge from the laid eggs. An interesting feature of the grave diggers is the care of the offspring: although the larvae are able to feed on their own, parents dissolve the tissue of the corpse with digestive enzymes , preparing a nourishing “broth” for them. This allows the larvae to grow faster. A few days later the larvae burrow deeper into the ground, where they pupate, turning into adult beetles.
